UK sales records smashed by PSP

PSP News | Sony handheld becomes fastest-selling console of all time in UK.

The champagne corks will be well and truly popping at Sony tonight, with the news that the company's PSP handheld has become the fastest-selling games console ever in the UK. Figures for other PAL regions are yet to be released, but there's no doubt that the impressive retail performance of the console in its opening four days in the UK will have matched and even surpassed Sony's expectations.

185,000 of the portable handhelds have disappeared from UK shop shelves since last Thursday, comfortably smashing the record of 87,000 that was set by the Nintendo DS when it launched in the UK back in March. It's an even more impressive feat when you consider that the PSP carries a price tag of £179.99, compared to the DS' launch price of £99.99.

The figures were officially confirmed by Chart-Track earlier this morning, and it was also clear that it wasn't just the hardware that was selling well. Nine of the titles that appeared in this week's All Formats Top 10 for the UK are PSP titles, and 20 out of the 24 launch titles made it into the All Formats Top 40.

Namco's Ridge Racer stole top spot, with Sony's WipEout Pure at No.3. Virtua Tennis World Tour and Metal Gear Ac!d occupied the No.4 and No.5 spots respectively, though sadly PALGN favourite Lumines didn't quite manage a Top 10 position, registering at No.12.

The launch helped UK retailers generate a turnover of just over £33 million in hardware sales alone, with software and accessories taking that figure well beyond the £50 million mark. The success of the launch means that the European handheld gaming market could make for fascinating viewing over the next few months, particularly with Nintendogs just around the corner and Sony already in full flight.

Stay tuned for more information on other PAL sales figures when we get them.

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24 Comments

Hyperworm

6 years ago

The PSP launched on a Thursday (September 1st) while the DS launched on a Friday (March 11th), so the sales figures for each handheld until the end of launch week are a little biased in favour of the PSP (having an extra day in which to sell).

Even allowing for that, though, the PSP has still had a spectacular launch. I wonder how many of the handhelds are left? Will it be able to maintain its momentum?

Nintendo needs to get Meteos out here pronto, as well as Advance Wars DS, Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, and the other system sellers if it hopes to combat the PSP.

David

6 years ago

Hyperworm wrote

It's actually even more then that. Nintendo only released the weekend figures for the DS launch sales in the UK - so that's 87,000 in two days (fri, sat). The PSP figures are for the full week I believe. DS may still hold the one and two day records. But we'll probably never know - both companies just release the figures that make them look best.

Funnily eneough, there were DS shortages after release, so the sales were bottlenecked for a couple of weeks after that.

Quote

Even allowing for that, though, the PSP has still had a spectacular launch. I wonder how many of the handhelds are left? Will it be able to maintain its momentum?

Absolutley. I was wondering how it would do, considering that to any gamer with an internet connection, it's old news and a rip off compared to overseas prices. It appears advertising works, and most people can't use google.
(What I mean is: if someone could wait 10 months for it in the first place, why bother with rushing out at 'launch'?)

Quote

Nintendo needs to get Meteos out here pronto, as well as Advance Wars DS, Nintendogs, Mario Kart DS, and the other system sellers if it hopes to combat the PSP.

Nintendogs was the turning point for the DS in Japan, and has recently done the same in the US.

Chris-Leigh

6 years ago

'Nintendo only released the weekend figures for the DS launch sales in the UK - so that's 87,000 in two days (fri, sat). The PSP figures are for the full week I believe.'

Nope, Nintendo's figures were for the Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The 185,000 figure for PSP was confirmed by Chart-Track as being for four days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday). As I type the PSP has only been out for five and a half days, so they can't be for the full week!

Whichever way you look at it, this has been Sony's victory for now, though Nintendogs could really throw the cat amongst the pigeons - we shall have to see.

David

6 years ago

OK - I just read that somewhere - that's why I said 'for the full week I believe' Also, the PSP's been out for about a week here, so I thought that's why they released the numbers - to report on the first week. Scary sales for four days, considering the price, actually. It seems the delay and the lawsuits didn't hurt them at all. Shame - I was hoping Sony Japan would have poached a bunch of Sony Europe's sales - that'd teach them to treat us PAL gamers better.

I doubt Nintendogs will do too much hardware wise in the short term. It's more a slow system seller, I'd say.

ObsoletE

6 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

Nintendogs could really throw the cat amongst the pigeons

dog amongst the cats would've been a better phrase IMO

who would've thunk it? they are some crazy sales figures.

now we wait to see how many of them 185,000 are returned for pixel issues...

thechu

6 years ago

^ With Sony's return policy on dead pixels, only the seriously affected ones would be successfully replaced, everyone else has to live with it - which is probably half the people who bought one.

Anyway, it just goes to show how dedicted we are in the PAL territories. Indeed, maybe they will treat us better now . . .

Blunty

6 years ago

So one region out of five wasn't a complete fizz? whoopee.
Aus, Europe, US and Japan have all been completely underwhelming launches for the PSP.

ObsoletE

6 years ago

i haven't seen any Au sales data as yet, and i know several stores in Perth have sold out of their shipment.

plufim

6 years ago

Actually, that's a good point. Has anyone heard anythign official regarding the AUS PSP launch?

Blunty

6 years ago

I'm on pretty good terms with the guys from a couple local EB stores, I was chatting about the launch with 'em, straight from the horces mouth; It was nowhere near as big as they expected it to be.

David

6 years ago

I thought Australia would have been very similar to the UK....we'll just have to wait for the figures.

ObsoletE

6 years ago

only as far as EB is concerned. The number of places actually selling PSPs is fairly high, so it's very possible that people passed up EB to buy one at another store.

then again, maybe it's only Perth that sold out (maybe we had a tiny shipment, i don't know) and the sales were underwhelming.

i'll wait for an official announcement.

Lord InuYasha

6 years ago

Woah i knew PSP would be a hit but 185,000 4 days = average of...... a hell of a lot.

If i sold that may chocolates in four days i would be laughing it up.

David

6 years ago

Chris-Leigh wrote

Whichever way you look at it, this has been Sony's victory for now

Erm....I got some figures now. It was four days for PSP and two days for DS.

DS
"Nintendo sold 87,000 DS consoles in the UK in the two days after the handheld device was launched"

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/03/16/nintendo_ds_uk_sales/

Or from Nintendo.co.uk:

"In the UK, the Nintendo DS broke records for the biggest ever opening in a launch weekend, selling 87,000 units in two days – that's an average of one Nintendo DS sold every two seconds!"

PSP
"More than 185,000 were sold in its first four days in UK shops, say official Chart-Track figures"

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/4218320.stm

So the figures are not directly comparable.

Hyperworm

6 years ago

Clearly still Sony's victory though... even doubling the DS figures it doesn't match the PSP's, and the sales on days 3 and 4 are bound to be less than on days 1 and 2 anyway, so that's an overestimate.

Still, people should know that it's much closer than those two figures would have you believe.

David

6 years ago

That's pretty much what I was saying.

Although in the PSP's case, I'd imagine day 3 would be the biggest (since it's the saturday), so my earlier assertion that DS may still have the 'first two days' record may still be true.

It's all marketing. Say PSP won the 'opening day record', DS won the 'opening 2 days record', PSP won the opening 4 day record' and DS won the 'opeing month record' (all still possible scenarios). Which had the best launch?

Obviously installed base early next year is most important.

Chris-Leigh

6 years ago

I'd have thought Day 1 would have been the best-selling personally, but hey, I think it's a rather empty debate. And I agree with Hyperworm - it's still been a more successful launch for Sony than it was for Nintendo.

David

6 years ago

I never disputed that - but it's not as huge a difference as it seems, since it's a two day total versus a four day total.

The reason I think Saturday would be the main selling day is obvious - people can get out to the shops if they work (and I don't think many unemployed people would buy PSPs!). In Australia, Saturday after release is always the biggest day for retail in my experience - I worked in a department store while at Uni.

Anyway, the only reason I posted was to back-up my (disputed) claims earlier.

plufim

6 years ago

Honestly, I think comparisons so soon don't have a huge amount of merit. It's sony, afterall - they'd have had a marketing blitz, whereas the DS launch would have been much quieter. Plus there's the in-store promotions, etc. I think it's only directly comparable after 6 months, a year even, where it becomes about the games and not the damned hype.

Oh, and I have a $50 bet that the DS will have the higher worldwide sales after one year for each console respectively. At the moment, it's looking good for me.

ObsoletE

6 years ago

^ yeah initial sales don't really mean anything, longterm sales have more clout BUT remember it's not just Sony who preach the good sales. Nintendo did when they launched the DS too, it's just business.

how have you defined the bet? through what region?

if globally, you're sure to win since both have nearly been out somewhere in the world, yet the PSP has only just launched in most of the world, whereas the DS has been out everywhere for longer...

bah, i can't say what i mean properly, but i'm sure you get what i mean. the bet was loaded (not necessarily through any fault of yours) unless you take figures from 1 region, and that you defined that region initially, since it's entirely plausible that the PSP might outsell the DS somewhere in it's first year, in which case it's simply a matter of reporting one set of facts and ignoring others.

at least you'd have a good future in marketing if you do.

plufim

6 years ago

It's worldwide, based on one year on from each of the respective japanese launches.

I should start planning what to do with the money.

Spanca

6 years ago

That's a safe bet. Of course the DS will win with a huge headstart in Australia and Europe on the PSP.

Hyperworm

6 years ago

When the bet was made, it was probably when the suspected PAL launch date for the PSP was a lot earlier, though, so it was fair at the time?

David

6 years ago

Well it's only two more months until both have their one year Japanese anniversary (although DS actually launched in the US two weeks before that), and before the PAL launch of PSP, it was about 7 million DS sold (about 11 million shipped) compared to 3 million PSP sold (and about 6 million shipped). (BTW - I'm not 100% sure of the shipped figures, but the sold are basically right)

The trends in the US and espescially Japan currently favour the DS. So unless over 4 million PSPs are sold to Europe by November, you'll win your bet. You bascially already have.

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