PS2, PSP sales surge; PS3 officially sold out

Sales of current-gen console more than double, handheld sales nearly triple; Sony confirms first US batch of next machine is gone.

This week, the obvious became official: The first batch of the PlayStation 3 is gone. "All PS3s brought into the US last week sold out," Dave Karraker, Sony Computer Entertainment America's senior vice president of corporate communications, told GameSpot. "Feedback from our retail partners is that demand is still incredibly high and that PS3s put on store shelves were quickly snapped up by holiday shoppers."

Though he declined to give a specific quantity of day-one PS3 stock, the executive did say that Sony was on target to bring 1 million units to North America by year's end. "We will continue to utilize airfreight delivery for the PlayStation 3 to ensure a steady stream of systems for North American consumers through the end of the year," promised Karraker. Some retailers, such as GameStop, have already reported receiving a second batch of the console, which is still fetching upward of $1,000 on eBay.

Demand also appears to be high for Sony's current-generation platforms. Though he didn't give specific numbers, Karraker said sales of the PlayStation 2 rose 116.5 percent during the week of November 26 when compared to the week prior. The PSP fared even better, enjoying a week-over-week increase of 280.5 percent. First-party software sales for the PS2 and PSP increased 120.6 percent and 167.9 percent, respectively; third-party software sales percentages were not provided.

271 Comments

  • wallaloo

    Posted Mar 28, 2007 10:51 pm PT

    well @*#& on my back, sony is finally pulling through

  • StOcKoHeArTs

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 1:33 pm PT

    I hope sony do well in selling the PS3 i'm sticking with you all the way Sony!!!

  • Baller1257

    Posted Dec 31, 2006 11:22 am PT

    Does anyone know what the PSP Sales for the year ended up being or when that report should be out??? I need it for the defense of the DS. lol. Send me a PM with the link. O and PS3 needs to get MGS4 out quickly and switch to HD and lower your price if that is what it's going to take... 360 needs to fix it's technical issues but Gears of War is awesome.... and Nintendo is the soul of gaming but please make online gaming a bigger part of the strategy.

  • buckybuckster

    Posted Dec 8, 2006 12:24 pm PT

    100 PS3 on launch day??? All we got was 6 at our store and i'm located in a region of VA with a metro pop of 1.5 mil people!

  • DrVenture333x2

    Posted Dec 4, 2006 2:53 am PT

    I do not unserstand how people can continually bash the PS3. I will agree, I thought the price was a little high, but when I got to a store in my area, which had a HUNDRED of them for sale I was surprised. I got to the store about twelve hours before the system was released, and I knew immediately I had no chance of getting one. There must have been 300 people in line already. Twelve hours before it came out. Now, I realize most of these people were unemployed 27 year olds who live in their parents basements, and probably had to borrow the money from them so they could sell it on ebay, but they sold out nonetheless. I found a system on the site (ebay) for $860, and was pretty proud considering most went for well over a grand. Sony could have shipped five times the amount they did and it still would have sold out the first day.

  • Tungsten88

    Posted Dec 3, 2006 5:47 pm PT

    Of course PS3s are popular; they're brand new. Just wait a year and then we'll see who's ahead.

  • MikeV54

    Posted Dec 3, 2006 3:32 pm PT

    i will buy a ps3 when the 60g costs $400-$500

  • VanGriffin

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 8:25 pm PT

    When i can afford one, I'll get one.

  • ryokinshin6x3

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 8:16 pm PT

    ps3 will pickup definatly, well it being sold out says it all

  • RaiKageRyu

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 3:25 pm PT

    Wow, this is the first good news that gamespot churned out for Sony in a while.

  • clovy

    Posted Dec 2, 2006 10:44 am PT

    it just shows you that even when one of sony's products isn't spectacular sony can still rely on its other products

  • Krazy-K

    Posted Dec 1, 2006 3:35 pm PT

    I plan on getting a PSP for Christmas. Hopefully I get a PS3 in Feburary for my birthday, but if not, I gotta wait til May cause it will be my graduation present.

  • soundbomb50

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 9:17 am PT

    Demand is ONLY high b/c people still think they can make a huge profit by selling it back on ebay, just as 25,000 + people did within days of the system launching last week. Too bad though b/c prices of the ps3 are dropping faster than Enron stock on ebay...going down by the minute!! LOL. Serves em right, those people who waited for days in line. Now they are crapped out b/c they are only making like $200 profit, lol, lol.

  • ScottHFC

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 8:53 am PT

    PSP needs 2 thumb sticks.

  • coltACP

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 8:08 am PT

    I nevere really admired the quality of Sony's products tbh, owned all their machines and each one has failed after a while, even with good care-the same care that has kept my, Sega master system, Spectrumn 128K, amiga 500+, Snes, N64, Gameboy's and GC all in tip top condition. Yet the PS1 (i've had 3) had difficulty with it's laser, PS2 ended up not being able to play DVD,s and now my PSP's LCD Screen is ghosting alot more than usual(annoying onscreen lag causing after images). I was thinking about buying a PS3, but no games are out that wow me much and the very likely fact i would have to buy another one in 1 or two years due to the failure rate i've come to expect from them, puts me completly off. I know alot of peoples machins DON'T break down, but each one i've had, does-me and sony don't seem to get on well :S, despite multiple efforts.

    Just for empasis My PS2 got out lasted by a machine from 1984(spectrumn 128K still works great as do my 120+ games), either they aren't made well or they are made to break after a few years to keep hardware sales up.

  • diamondfox32

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 7:00 am PT

    I have two words for Sony - price drop

  • Dark_Pheonix01

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 6:37 am PT

    Im glad to see Sony starting to do well again.

  • gtjava

    Posted Nov 30, 2006 2:38 am PT

    gooo sony behind u all the way

  • Coolgamer

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:05 pm PT

    Sony could sell more PSP if they would redo it at a lower price point something like 150 and have PSP sports packing game.

  • rudyHG

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:59 pm PT

    They need to fess up and release the actual number of PS3's shipped.

  • MartinMan

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:13 pm PT

    Well that's certainly some great news for my favorite gaming company and I'm really glad that the psp sales have increased now I just hope sony can lower the cost just a bit for more people to buy & enjoy them.

  • ali_jmnz

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:08 pm PT

    DAMM IT!!! no ps3 for me this xmas

  • lrsp

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 6:37 pm PT

    that's great news!

  • chamber303

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:54 am PT

    don't worry about Sony's profits, there good.
    SONY, MICROSOFT, even SEGA making all those games for all consoles and arcade machines have the money to continue to do what they do.
    What we gamers need to worry about is for there systems to impress us all.
    Whether your a Microsoft fan or a SONY fan, your still a video game fan.

  • cjcr_alexandru

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:45 am PT

    Those figures are impressive, but I don't think they are making a profit yet cause Sony is losing a lot for every PS3 sold.

  • chamber303

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 10:43 am PT

    why are you idiots getting mad at SONY for not having enough systems out?
    Just wait man, more will come soon.
    take a chill pill.

  • the_junk

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:22 am PT

    depends what the sales were before. if they sucked earlier and then doubled, they probably still suck. anyway, the rise in sales is probably just some dumb parents who dont know a thing about the Xcube or the Gamebox or the POS3 and figured little jimmy wanted a current gen system. haha. plus i doubt SONY's claim to have 1 mil in the US by the end of the year. look at how many they had at launch. how long did it take them to get those and those alone ready for launch day? now they want to have 1 MIL?? haha. SONY makes me laugh.

  • laobayu

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:05 am PT

    this Sh*t is so stupid.. Sony fault for all of this they should of waited until they had 3 million consoles ready to be ship out.... instead they had 40,000 to 50,000. Everyone knows it would be sold out anyway before Christmas and after.. There no way the price is going down not because everyone want one it because the price of the PS3 is under price so sony is losing money for every ps3 so they have to find another method getting that money back.. ON line... Some one need to sue someone for all this crap is just stupid and everyone knew this crap would happen anyway.. You want money that bad do something really stupid and sue.. that way next time the company will think twice before they launch ... better for everyone in the long run .. Hell you might make it to the history books Killing over a consoles... a game consoles that sell 1,000 to 15,000 yes the highest I'v seen

  • Pastehunter

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 9:01 am PT

    Finally , some good news for SOny , theyl allways come up somehow allways with some profit . Hope theyl keep this up

  • mistuhcahlos

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:46 am PT

    the number of cheap games out now might've helped psp sales. i just picked up acid 2 for 20 at walmart, and i'm picking up exit for 20 at amazon (played the demo, my wife and i love it). I still have to buy wipeout pure, ridge racers, and ea replay. the ps1 games are coming out for 6-12.....psps got some sweet deals.

  • edhc44

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:30 am PT

    Dante200X
    "I'm pretty sure MGS: PO has something to do with the sales. on the RPG side: i'll admit there aren't many good PSP RPGs right now, but not having good titles in one genre never hurt a system that much."

    Not having (many) RPG's sure did hurt the GC and hurt the N64 even harder.

  • ocdog45

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:26 am PT

    Sony still making cash. but man with those gross losses initialy will hurt

  • edhc44

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:24 am PT

    nevereathim
    "PSP ROX PSP IS THE FUTURE OF ALL GAMING Now we can finally laugh at those sad nintendo fanboys with their mario and pokemon"

    Man, you're soooo smart... will you marry me?

  • CheddarLimbo

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:17 am PT

    Well good for Sony. They get the consumer's money one way or the other.

    I'm still not sold on the PS3, personally. But that's because I buy games, and the device is just a means by which to play them. Sony wants to sell the PS3 by itself as a media device and I'm just not in that target audience. When Sony gets some killer exclusives, then maybe I'll get one.

  • garland51

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:17 am PT

    PSP sales have increased? Good! Maybe that will shut up those PSP haters that claimed that the system is dying. Now, If only Sony can knock down the price for it down to $150, then the sales for it would probably increase even more.

  • faizali86

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 8:08 am PT

    wow, thats nice.

  • ObiKKa

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:59 am PT

    Yeah, I agree with you GrimBee about the necessity for a price drop of the PSP. It's still at the same price with an extra 1GB memory stick (in addition to the 32MB stick) in Australia after 1.75 years! That's stupid, but typical of Sony always overcharging us on everything! Not sure if that 1GB stick adds to the value of the pack at its current price. I still think that Sony should be working on dropping the price.

  • I_Stole_the_Tv

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:54 am PT

    I own a PS2 and 60 games for and still enjoy the PSP and have over 20 games for that. People complain about ports on the PSP, but half of GBA's AAA titles were ports. At the end of the day I play my PSP much more than my DS.

  • Cloud737

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:28 am PT

    "Though he declined to give a specific quantity of day-one PS3 stock, the executive did say that Sony was on target to bring 1 million units to North America by year's end." I thought there target was 2 million by years end. Don`t tell me they halved the number AGAIN!

  • thefjk

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:19 am PT

    I'll get a PSP as well after I get the PS3...

  • gautam3

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 7:16 am PT

    didnt the PS3 sell out within a few days of release?

  • mr_squibble

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 6:51 am PT

    What we do not have is reference numbers for the PS2 and PSP. It doesn't really matter if PSP sales are up 280% week-on-week Nov. '05/Nov. '06 if the sales were low in Nov. '05. I hate how companies spin things to make it look like they are performing better than they are. I'm sure Sony's sales of the PSP are improving as there are more and better games for it now than there were a year ago. But this news is only to please 4th quarter investors.

  • V_Zarnold_N

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 6:12 am PT

    well this is a bit of good news for sony. i would have to say its about time but for some reason i cant shake the feeling that they are lying again and are just going to look stupid when they get found out. i do hope that it was all true and while the psp is good for a handheld ps2 after owning a ps2 you just dont appreciate the psp that much

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 6:09 am PT

    i saw someone buying a psp when i was out on black friday. they will be disappointed.

  • god_of_shawn

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:54 am PT

    I am from singapore too....In Singapore that is plenty of stock of PS3 but is just too ex ~.~

  • Dualmask

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:44 am PT

    IMDLEGEND
    "I'm one of the people "who hasn't bought a PS2 yet". I have an Xbox, and would like to get a PS2 to play all of the games that are exclusive to that system. I already have a PSP, and I love it. (I don't know what all of the complaining about the PSP is for). "

    It's because you don't own a PS2 that you don't get the problems with the PSP. For someone who's never owned PS2, the PSP is probably a godsend. Many of the portable's releases were PS2 ports or PS2 inspired games like Burnout, Wipeout, GTA, and all the sports games, etc. Most gamers would probably find much more value in PSP if they didn't already experience much of that value in PS2 already. Me, I have a PSP and I have a great deal of trouble picking out games for it because what hasn't already been done on PS2, for the most part just isn't good on PSP (with exceptions).

  • MSG-Deathscythe

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:30 am PT

    neoboru: they also have one in each circuit city, best buy, target, etc. ... and btw they are called displays.

  • neoboru

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:16 am PT

    ha yeah right there is a 20 gig ps3 at one of the wal marts by my house saw it there yesterday

  • d_latino

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 5:03 am PT

    good on sony.. but i mean everybody whos sayiin that they wont fare well in mid year things are completly wrong cuz if u look at it sony's got the largest catalouge.. no way microsoft or nintendo are guna work their way up that...
    [dsxelatino]

  • Hayabusa_san

    Posted Nov 29, 2006 4:32 am PT

    Well, news like this is to be expected as Christmas draws nearer and nearer...

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