Sales of the newly slimmed down PS3 have comfortably exceeded half a million worldwide, according to numerous reports.
Purchases in the US increased three fold the week of its launch, according to Sony. While research group Chart-Track said the new console sold 40,000 units in its first week on the UK market, boosting sales 999%.
In Japan, the PS3 sold 151,783 units during its first three days on sale – up from around 1,000 per week- possibly thanks to the bizarre advertising campaign (above).
Of course, percentage increases will be skewed somewhat by the fact that sales were likely very low the week prior to the Slim’s release as prospective buyers waited for the new model. Nevertheless, the numbers are impressive, and Sony seem to have pulled off a strong candidate for the most succesful console relaunch ever.
The real question is whether Sony will be able to keep up momentum and move out of last place in the home console market.
If it doesn’t, it won’t be from lack of trying. A new console at a lower price point coupled with a re-branded logo and a new advertising campaign could well be enough to erode the faintly elitist, unattainable feel of the original console and tempt mass-market consumers to splash out on what is arguably the best value package on the market.
In vaguely related news, the PS3 now accounts for more BBC iPlayer views than Apple computers. Viewers using Sony’s black box made up 10% of all traffic compared to 8.5% of Jobs devotees.
