Sony, which manufactures both the PS3 and PSP, is facing some tough times compared to its hardware competitors this fall — and maybe for the year — based on November sales estimates from the industry analysts at Electronic Entertainment Design and Research (EEDAR). According to the firm, only Resistance 2 drove good PS3-exclusive sales in November, while the PSP is expected to decrease year-over-year software sales when sales data is made public.
Considering the usual holiday-season push for hardware and software sales, the result may be declines in total Sony hardware sales for the year, says EEDAR, even as the PS3 had several solid hits earlier in the year.
Editor’s Note: it’s worth pointing out that the PS3 had outsold the Xbox 360 for several months prior to the Xbox 360 price drop.
While the PS3 doesn’t have the exclusive-game sales, says the report, the Xbox 360 is currently benefiting from sales of Gears of War 2 — which is expected to have sold 2 million units in November — and Left 4 Dead, another Xbox 360-exclusive game. Call of Duty: World at War, a multiplatform title, is doing well on both consoles, while Animal Crossing: City Folk is leading the way for Nintendo Wii.
And yes, the Wii still leads all platforms in units sold.
For November, EEDAR expects software sales to be $1.34 billion, up 3 percent year-over-year. The firm reiterated, however, that November 2008 had only two days of the official “holiday shopping season,” compared to nine days in Nov. 2007 (Thanksgiving fell earlier in the month).
EEDAR also said Guitar Hero may be reaching its peak, as sales of Guitar Hero World Tour are largely lower than expected. However, the firm attributed some of the lower-than-expected sales on “fire sale” type promotions by retailers who offered deep discounts on Guitar Hero 3 in order to clear out inventory.
For more from EEDAR, here is some additional text from their November sales data report:
“We expect next-generation home/portable unit sales to increase by 2 percent year-over-year. The majority of those sales will be driven by a 47-percent increase in Wii units year-over-year. Both the PS3 and the PSP will post double digit year-over-year declines. We expect the DS to post an 11-percent decline in units, but we believe DS sales were impacted, more than any other console, because of the shift from a nine-day holiday season month to two days.”
“On Call of Duty: World at War: We expect sales to be up, slightly, series-over-series at 2.1 million units for the month, which we consider to be an impeccable accomplishment given the run-away success Call of Duty 4 had last year. Keep in mind that our forecast includes the PS2 and Wii version, which did not exist last year….
“On Gears of War 2: We expect sales to exceed 2 million units for the month, and maintain our guidance that Gears of War 2 will be the best selling SKU this holiday season.
“On Left 4 Dead: We expect sales to come in at 300,000 units, which we considered to be incredible, bearing in mind the game is primarily focused on one feature (Co-op). We believe Left 4 Dead’s success will open the eyes of a lot of publishers and developers and expect more titles in 2009 and 2010 to have stronger co-op features to build on Left 4 Dead’s success.
“Most analysts … doubted that Animal Crossing: City Folk would achieve any type of success in the market. Retail channel checks, however, are indicating that we should expect sales north of 200,000 units. While it may not be selling at the same levels of Wii Fit, Super Smash Bros. or Mario Kart, we believe it at least met Nintendo’s expectations.”
