Japanese Hardware: PS3 Tops Home Consoles As Hardware Declines Overall

Hardware unit sales declined in Japan week-on-week as new, lower price tags for Sony's PlayStation 3, PSP, and Nintendo Wii settled into the marketplace, Media Create reported Friday. For the week ended October 11, week-on-week PS3 sales dropped from 37,538 to 30,896. But Sony's machine once again led weekly home consoles sales, outselling Nintendo Wii by a narrow margin of just 155 units. Sony cut the price of the PS3 and introduced a smaller form factor in Japan last month, prompting a sales spike that peaked at over 150,000 units in the PS3 "slim's" opening week in the region. During this most recent week, Nintendo sold 30,741 Wiis, down week-on-week from 35,392. Nintendo cut the price of the Wii in late September by 20 percent, prompting a much more subdued sales increase when compared to PS3's spike. PS3 was able to outsell Wii on a monthly basis in September for the first time, thanks to Sony's pricing move. Leading overall hardware sales for the fifth consecutive week was the Nintendo DSi, which quickly took back the top position following PS3's recent sales spike. The handheld sold 50,144 units, down from 53,293. Combined with DS Lite sales, the total weekly DS line sold 55,598 units. PSP, which also saw a recent price cut, dropped to 40,100 from 51,215 a week ago, when it was within striking distance of the dominating DSi. Sony's handheld was still able to retain the second slot on the rankings. Across the board, hardware sales were down from a week ago. Below are the Japanese sales charts for the week ended October 11: DSi: 50,144 PSP: 40,100 PS3: 30,896 Wii: 30,741 DS: Lite 5,454 Xbox 360: 3,326 PS2: 2,133