Sony, Microsoft both claim top spot in Aussie console market

Back in February, Sony Computer Entertainment Australia announced that its PlayStation 3 console had reached 1.1 million units sold Down Under.

At the time, Sony announced that the PS3 had dominated local hardware sales in 2010, making up 26.5 percent of the total value share for all console sales in the region--the highest percentage share of any manufacturer.

Today, SCEA announced a similar achievement. Citing official NPD Group Australia data from retailers across Australia (NPD Group Australia Data to week ending 42), Sony revealed that the PS3 currently represents the highest number of home console units sold, as well as the highest value share delivered for calendar year to date in 2011.

However, it appears that Sony is not the only publisher claiming the top spot in the Australian home console market. Last week, Microsoft made a similar claim during its announcement regarding Kinect voice control coming to Australia by mid-December.

Speaking to GameSpot AU, Microsoft Australia's director of consumer channels group David McLean revealed that the Xbox 360 has now sold 1.4 million units in the Australian market and that the console is "currently sitting at number one in the channel."

"We're selling faster week by week than we typically did, and we're currently sitting at number one in the channel. That's been the situation for most of this calendar year in terms of how we've moved volume," McLean said.

When asked his thoughts on Sony's recent move to drop the price of the PS3 in Australia, McLean said that the price drop only temporarily buoyed Sony's position in the market.

"I think the [PS3 price drop] was interesting. I think maybe we [Microsoft] had a lot of momentum and they [Sony] wanted to arrest that...potentially, I don't know. But I would say that we always had a strategy in place...getting ready for the launch of Gears of War 3, getting ready for the launch of Kinect voice control, setting up our Christmas lineup, and our recent own price drop. So I think [the PS3 price drop] made a change in the market for about a week or so, but I believe the position [Microsoft] is now in is back where we were before that. We continue to sell at the number one position."

In response to Sony's claim that the PS3 is currently the top-selling console in Australia for 2011, McLean said:

"What I'd say to that is let's talk to an official arbiter. GFK reporting suggests that [Microsoft and the Xbox 360] is doing quite fine, and we're not being outsold three to one by anybody. In actual fact, we're the market leader. I don't know how the math works over there [at Sony], but I can only go back to my school math and say if you're number one, you can't be being outsold three to one."

In August this year, Sony dropped the price of the PS3 in Australia from A$499 to A$349.95 for the 160GB model and from A$599 to A$449.95 for the 320GB model. The price drop led to a sales surge of over 400 percent for the console Down Under.

In regard to actual sales figures, Sony said it expects to release an update on the PS3 install base "at the end of the calendar year."