PlayStation Vita Sales Continue to Plummet in Japan
Over the course of four weeks, the number of sold PlayStation Vita units in Japan has dropped from nearly 325K to just over 18K. Sign of the times?
Media Create reports that Sony saw only 18,361 units sold in Japan during the week of January 9 to January 15, its fourth week on the market. By comparison, the cheaper Nintendo 3DS dropped somewhat after the holiday rush as well, but not down to Vita levels, pushing a decent 100,668 units out to paying customers.
The PlayStation Vita seemed to launch with a bang in Japan back in December, with 321,400 units sold in just two days right before Christmas. Eventually for the first week, Sony sold a total of 324,859 units, and the handheld console seemed to be a hit.
But the second week proved otherwise, with the number of units sold dropping down to just 72,479. The third week saw another drastic drop with only 42,648 units flying off store shelves. Now the handheld is barely moving at all in Japan, yet still topping the likes of Nintendo's Wii console, the Xbox 360, and the two DSi models.
Strangely enough, the original PSP is still selling well, moving 62,746 units last week and 22,538 this week. On the Nintendo front, the company still rules the Japanese market, shelling out 197,952 3DS units last week and 100,668 units this week. The PlayStation 3 is the second-most favorite gaming platform, selling 67,199 units last week and 30,332 this week.
What may be hurting the PlayStation Vita is its steep pricetag -- a lesson Nintendo learned with its own 3DS handheld in 2011. As of this writing, Sony still plans to keep the Vita's original pricing, requiring $249.99 USD for the Wi-Fi model and $299.99 USD for the 3G/Wi-Fi model. Both will arrive in the States on February 22.
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well 3ds had almost no specs and sold for a hig prise so not strangely it had a ruff start but ps vita is in the cinda stange line for ppl ho like to game on hig end devices but dont like to game on the hig en smart phones most of em pobebly own, and btw wtf psp is still selling ?? i had one for 1 year and i culd not find a single good game for it.
and btw wtf psp is still selling ?? i had one for 1 year and i culd not find a single good game for it.
Still have my PSP lying around somewhere, but that's exactly the experience I had with it. PS Vita is most likely going to suffer the same problem.
Specs don't make a handheld console. Good games do.
Shame the 3DS and PS Vita both have poor battery life...
Lets see...........$250 for a PS Vita or....... $250 for a PS3 hmmm. Tough choice.
Not really.
Also these sales are only in japan, im sure the numbers will be bigger than 18K four weeks after the world wide release...
i knew it. sony's overpricing will eventually boomerang on them.
lower the price to $150 and see the psv's flying off the shelves again.
early adopters will feel screwed ('apple'd) though. that thing doesn't deserve to be priced over $150.
In japan there are so many small third party for the psp that are hella cheap like $5-$10 cheap so people buy it for those games (the doujin ones if anyone knows what I am talking about). However for the ps vita not so much... sure the graphics are hella nice and there are some good games on it, lots people in japan are waiting for cheaper prices and more small developers to release.
i knew it. sony's overpricing will eventually boomerang on them.lower the price to $150 and see the psv's flying off the shelves again. early adopters will feel screwed ('apple'd) though. that thing doesn't deserve to be priced over $150.
Funny calling the PS Vita overpriced. It's hardware is almost identical to a phone, with the exception of being much faster. Yet it's cheaper.
@de5_roy you do realize that Sony is actually losing money per Sony vita sold? How is being overpriced?? Sony's vita just might have the same fate as the PSP. Sure the graphics are great but I'm sure it will be lacking games. I don't even play with my PSP anymore.
But is Vita suppose to be a game console or phone/tablet?
to be honest i just used psp as a media/video player
not bad codecs built in and there used to be good homebrew video players
I personally am not all that surprised; I think that this is rather similar to the 3DS' lukewarm welcome. Sony has a pretty nice piece of kit, very similar to the PSP upon its release. The problem here, of course, is that while Sony may be losing money on the hardware, it's still not priced low enough to move in the market. If they can drop it to at least $199US, it'd likely start moving again.
well 3ds had almost no specs and sold for a hig prise
No, the 3DS was much more comparable to the PSV. The specs are far, FAR closer than the DS/DSi were to the PSP. And yes, even then we saw how poorly the 3DS sold at a $249.99US MSRP.
Funny calling the PS Vita overpriced. It's hardware is almost identical to a phone, with the exception of being much faster. Yet it's cheaper.
And does anyone really pay $300-600US for a smartphone? They don't; they pay $100-200US typically, getting it subsidized through their service contract. While they wind up paying the same in the long run, (Contracts run $100US+ a month when equal non-contract service typically goes for $40-50US/month) for the vast majority, this makes the price invisible to them.
Then show them a $250US handheld, and they freak out, as that seems entirely too high to them compared to a PS3 for the same price. (or an Xbox 360 or Wii for less)
@de5_roy you do realize that Sony is actually losing money per Sony vita sold? How is being overpriced?? Sony's vita just might have the same fate as the PSP.
It's overpriced to what people are expecting to pay for something in that segment. In devices like that, much of the high cost comes not from the "power" components, (CPU, GPU, RAM) but rather the "interface" components. I'm sure the cost of the higher-resolution touchscreen, COUPLED with having a more complex set of the PSP's input devices on top of that, AND the touchpad on the back likely stack things up there.
Oh, and suffering the PSP's fate wouldn't be all that bad, given that it's managed over 70 million units sold, which makes it, by far, the most credible handheld to ever be made by anyone but Nintendo; vs. the DS it's managed a 32.4% market share... Which is better than the PS3's market share of 27.5%.,, And the next-most-successful handheld was Sega's Game Gear, which sputtered out at a mere 11 million units sold, and an 8.5% market share vs. the Game Boy.
Sony wy no Grand Turismo at launch?
Give it some time. It just came out of its mummy's tummy. Soon we'll see what it can do
The West seems to have a "doom and gloom" approach to Sony. Remember how the PS3 was going to be a massive failure?
Give it time and the PS Vita will pick up.
The PSP was my favorite handheld, I still play Monster Hunter and Peace Walker on the daily. The Vita's price tag sits nice for me. While seeing posts about a "Drastic Price cut needed!!" does fill my pockets with joy, i hope Sony stands strong with there price. You know what they say "Quality over quantity".
I see no reason to own a Vita. Its a huge flop, Sony are floundering.
Well, after playing on a cheaper Tegra2 tablet and even my Samsung GS2, I see absolutely no point into getting a portable gaming console.
Sorry Sony, but the same formula won't be enough to leverage the crushing advantage Smartphones and Tablets have here. If a person already has a capable smartphone, getting a Vita is redundant.
Cheers!
Also these sales are only in japan, im sure the numbers will be bigger than 18K four weeks after the world wide release...
there isnt one japanese game at launch, uncharted is the only system seller it has, and i have no idea if that is even popular over there.
@de5_roy you do realize that Sony is actually losing money per Sony vita sold? How is being overpriced?? Sony's vita just might have the same fate as the PSP. Sure the graphics are great but I'm sure it will be lacking games. I don't even play with my PSP anymore.
they are screwing us with memory sticks, and are they really loosing money each sale? not do you think they are, but are they for sure?
I personally am not all that surprised; I think that this is rather similar to the 3DS' lukewarm welcome. Sony has a pretty nice piece of kit, very similar to the PSP upon its release. The problem here, of course, is that while Sony may be losing money on the hardware, it's still not priced low enough to move in the market. If they can drop it to at least $199US, it'd likely start moving again.No, the 3DS was much more comparable to the PSV. The specs are far, FAR closer than the DS/DSi were to the PSP. And yes, even then we saw how poorly the 3DS sold at a $249.99US MSRP.And does anyone really pay $300-600US for a smartphone? They don't; they pay $100-200US typically, getting it subsidized through their service contract. While they wind up paying the same in the long run, (Contracts run $100US+ a month when equal non-contract service typically goes for $40-50US/month) for the vast majority, this makes the price invisible to them.Then show them a $250US handheld, and they freak out, as that seems entirely too high to them compared to a PS3 for the same price. (or an Xbox 360 or Wii for less)It's overpriced to what people are expecting to pay for something in that segment. In devices like that, much of the high cost comes not from the "power" components, (CPU, GPU, RAM) but rather the "interface" components. I'm sure the cost of the higher-resolution touchscreen, COUPLED with having a more complex set of the PSP's input devices on top of that, AND the touchpad on the back likely stack things up there.Oh, and suffering the PSP's fate wouldn't be all that bad, given that it's managed over 70 million units sold, which makes it, by far, the most credible handheld to ever be made by anyone but Nintendo; vs. the DS it's managed a 32.4% market share... Which is better than the PS3's market share of 27.5%.,, And the next-most-successful handheld was Sega's Game Gear, which sputtered out at a mere 11 million units sold, and an 8.5% market share vs. the Game Boy.
3ds didnt sell because no games.
it continued to sell crap because when 1 game came out, it was so long after launch that no one trusted that they would put the good ones out fast enough... as it stands im waiting till next christmas for mine
and than it sold well because by christmass it had its 5 great games and 3 serious system movers.
psv is currently only in japan, and not one system seller is on it yet for japan. (again how popular is uncharted there)
The West seems to have a "doom and gloom" approach to Sony. Remember how the PS3 was going to be a massive failure?Give it time and the PS Vita will pick up.
the ps3 was moronically expensive, but still a good value if you consider it has a ps2 in it, and no memory cards any more... i so want a 60gb version...
3ds didnt sell because no games.it continued to sell crap because when 1 game came out, it was so long after launch that no one trusted that they would put the good ones out fast enough...
3DS sales *did* pick up once the price dropped, even before games came out for it.
the ps3 was moronically expensive, but still a good value if you consider it has a ps2 in it,
This stopped happening quite some time ago, actually.
They've really been pushing the PSP over here (in Japan) in the run up to Xmas & New Year so it's no surprise to me that it has sold well. I couldn't find any information on the PS Vita in shops even a week before launch, but the PSP was being massively promoted, presumably to unload stock on unsuspecting customers who were unaware that it was being replaced.
I'll buy a Vita after a price slash of both the handheld and those over priced memory cards.
They claimed the price of the memory cards was to combat piracy it may have worked but it also combated legit sales too.
wtf psp is still selling ?? i had one for 1 year and i culd not find a single good game for it.
The PSP is quite popular in Japan and gets titles that the rest of the world does not. If I am not mistaken a new Final Fantasy game just released for it (or is close to release) in Japan.
It's still going quite strong over there.
As for your claim of no good games for the PSP, I can hardly see that as possible even in a opinion standpoint. There are all types of games for all types of gamers if you couldn't find a single one than you obviously did not put any effort in the search.
Yeah, I think i'd rather get a Tegra 3 Tablet or Phone...
I'll buy a Vita after a price slash of both the handheld and those over priced memory cards. They claimed the price of the memory cards was to combat piracy it may have worked but it also combated legit sales too. The PSP is quite popular in Japan and gets titles that the rest of the world does not. If I am not mistaken a new Final Fantasy game just released for it (or is close to release) in Japan.It's still going quite strong over there.As for your claim of no good games for the PSP, I can hardly see that as possible even in a opinion standpoint. There are all types of games for all types of gamers if you couldn't find a single one than you obviously did not put any effort in the search.
The memory card prices are NOT overpriced!!! Vita games on the psn are cheaper than their retail counterparts.
The memory card prices are NOT overpriced!!! Vita games on the psn are cheaper than their retail counterparts.
100$ for 32GB isn't expensive? For that price I can buy 3 32gb microSDHC class10.
Stick a fork in Sony...they are done.
In Australia the Vita is not quite released yet. When you see the 3DS and the soon to be released Vita, there is not question about the 2. The Sony looks better, is bigger, much bigger screen (compared to the tiny Nintendo) and good selection of titles and seems well integrated into the PS store / PS3 XMB. Compared to the 3Ds (it main competitor) the Vita is better and will have a longer life.
*sigh* Anyone who's matured past puberty in the last 10 or so years will know this is how it usually goes. New system released just before Christmas. System sells very well over the holidays. After holidays, sales cliff drop. Exclusive blockbuster title released the following summer. Sales pick up. Devs begin to learn system. 3rd party makes or breaks the system....blah blah blah. Seen this episode already.
The 'unwritten' story here is that the industry does not actually know where to go right now. Is it the latest tech/hardware? Maybe, but the Wii's success proved otherwise. Is it the form factor? Cant tell 'cuz people game on portables, phones, PC's and consoles. Is it game development? Could be, but a hot indie app can sell as well as a multi-million dollar studio title.
Right now there is a lot of uncertainty, so Sony's strategy seems to be diversity (Vita, PS3, Xperia play, Move, PSN, Indie SDK, etc) as they can definitely afford it. Time will only tell if it is better for them to do one thing very well or do many things...not so well.
Also these sales are only in japan, im sure the numbers will be bigger than 18K four weeks after the world wide release...
Yes, but that's not really the point. The point is sales are going down (lack of interest). And that is in the country where Sony lives.
I said this before....PS VITA will have a hard time fighting mobile smartphones which can pratically do the same thing, minus the expensive memory card. Most people play games on mobile just to kill time waiting in banks, queue, or their wives/gf shopping. There's really no need to have another handheld console for this purpose. These are the casual gamers and they're the king of the markets now....not hardcore gamers....a console like VITA is for hardcore gaming....which is now a VERY niche market....sooner or later, they find the ROI for this market is getting thinner and thinner...it is very hard to have a budget to do a full experience console game vs the 2 dollars apps which moves by hundreds of thousands easily. It'll not be a financially wise decision to develop for this market...when you can spend less in development, faster turnaround, and get higher sales easily....
I hope the VITA will survive though. But the price of the hardware and games and memory cards has to come down.
100$ for 32GB isn't expensive? For that price I can buy 3 32gb microSDHC class10.
I payed 150USD for 8gb back in 07 or 08 for Sony's MS PRODUO to crack my PSP with some games. 32gb for 100USD isn't that bad deal if you compare.
I payed 150USD for 8gb back in 07 or 08 for Sony's MS PRODUO to crack my PSP with some games. 32gb for 100USD isn't that bad deal if you compare.
The price from 5 years back is irrelevant. What's relevant is the price for other flash cards. Also MS are also expensive.