SCEA: PS3 Holiday Sales Up 130 Percent

Sony says its PlayStation 3 saw an increase of more than 130 percent in hardware sales for the holiday season (from Black Friday on) in the U.S., and nearly a 40 percent increase for the calendar year. "We've had a solid holiday season and have delivered consistent growth throughout this year," SCEA vice president Ian Jackson, tells technology site CNET. "Early internal data points to an increase of more than 130 percent of PS3 hardware sales for the holiday season -- since Black Friday -- and we're also seeing a growth of nearly 40 percent in total PS3 hardware sales for the calendar year," Jackson adds. Though the company's saw its year-over-year PS3 sales drop by 18.8 percent in November, from 466,000 PS3 units moved to 378,000, it claims the month's results were an anomaly, as November 2007 was "an abnormally strong month due to a price cut (with) the introduction of the 40GB PS3." Nintendo's Wii sales jumped by 108 percent during the same month, however, from 981,000 systems sold to 2.04 million, while Xbox 360 sales also grew by 8.6 percent, from 770,000 to 836,000. Despite those November results, the company remains optimistic about the year. "2008 was a pivotal year for PlayStation with the best software line up in the industry, a dramatic expansion of PlayStation Network including the launches of the video delivery service and the beta of the PlayStation Home," says Jackson. He adds, "We remain confident this momentum will continue into the new year."