Xbox 360 far outsells Wii and PS3 in September thanks to Halo 3
By Dave Parrack
Wedbush Morgan Securites analyst Michael Pachter is predicting that the Xbox 360 will have outsold the Wii by 25,000 units in September. The reason for this sudden Microsoft success? Why, Halo 3 of course.
The official NPD data will be issued this Thursday, October 18th, but Michael Pachter, partnered with fantasy video game prediction market simExchange is offering his own predicted breakdown of the hardware and software sales figures for the last month.
Software sales are expected to climb to $655 million, up 47% on last year, although that’s not surprising as the new consoles had all been launched by then but had virtually no good games available to buy. That changed dramatically in September though, with the release of Halo 3, which is being credited not only with the massively increased software sales figures but also the Xbox 360 overtaking the Wii in hardware sales.
Pachter said in his latest notes to investors:
“We believe Microsoft’s Halo 3 drove most of the sales growth, accounting for over $200 million (3 million units) in sales… Although we think that sales of Halo 3 accounted for virtually all of the growth during the month, we think that the game drove hardware sales and positions the industry for even greater sales in November and December, when many Halo players will be ready for a new challenge. We are optimistic about software sales through the end of the year.”
So things are looking up, with the Xbox 360 seemingly the red hot favourite for a sales hike during the upcoming holiday season. Estimates suggest the Xbox 360 sold in excess of 450,000 units during September, which just shows what a universally loved game (Halo 3) can do for you.
The Wii wasn’t far behind however, not bad for a console that is seen as being underpowered compared to its rivals, and is still experiencing hardware shortages. And with no Halo 3 type exclusive being released on the Wii, the fact that the console has still sold 425,000 units should please Nintendo no end.
So then we’re left with the PS3: poor poor Sony. It’s still being left behind by quite a margin with console sales of just 150,000 units. That is a very poor result, and one that Sony needs to rectify soon before the gap becomes too large to ever claw back. When your older sibling the PS2 sells more than your current one, even with very few new games being released for it, you know something needs to happen and fast.
The full Pachter predicted sales figures are:-
Xbox 360 - 450,000
DS - 430,000
Wii - 425,000
PSP - 252,000
PS2 - 220,000
PS3 - 150,000
GBA - 65,000
It’s all set for an inevitable and frenzied price cutting showdown, with the Xbox 360 Arcade Pack a real possibility, and the PS3 receiving a hefty price reduction sooner rather than later. Although Nintendo have recently stated there will be no price cut for the Wii in the near future, you can bet that may change if Sony and Microsoft force them to follow suit.
Let the battle commence, I, for one, can’t wait.
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October 15th, 2007
“That is a very poor result, and one that Sony needs to rectify soon before the gap becomes too large to ever claw back.”
Dumb, dumb, dumb , dumb, dumb. Sony haven’t released any of their big games yet while Microsoft have just released their biggest. You would also do well to remember that worldwide the PS3 has outsold the 360 every single month this year except for the last one. That’s pretty good going with no big titles and a very high price.
Look at the releases for next year and compare it the the ones lined up for the 360. The PS3 will probably overtake the 360 by the end of next year.
All the Sony bashers have got about 5 months left to enjoy themselves.
October 15th, 2007
Speaking of which, wait until Wii’s big releases…
October 15th, 2007
Good artical,
Most of these bloggers, especially this one forget that Sony and Microsoft take a beating with thier subsidised systems. Wii, is the only console that makes money off its hardware, so the fact that a game was sold to so many consumers, a game with a 85% profit margin directly paid to the console manufacturer is great news. Hopefully sony does a redo, because I only have 3 games, and of that only 1 is fun. It is sickening watching all this hype for the Wii, if you have one, what games do you play? Wii sports is their killer app, but it is free. This generation has a long way to go, PS3 and Wii that is fi Xbox 360 has one more killer game, we can forget blue ray…
October 15th, 2007
To that PS3 fanatical, sad…
I have one, I am getting ready to sell it next time 360 gets a hardware upgrade. PS3 has lost the favor of developers. M$ gives its developers the best tools in game production to make games, no wonder I enjoy my 360. PS3 produced a cell processor, and its architecture is unreasonable to code for, development cost are high enough right now and with 1 out of 5 games being profitable, who would chance it beyond EA, Rockstar and in house suites. It is a shameful existance for PS3 right now, I was part of the idiocrasy that hyped that system and have since learned the hard way, putting down 600 bills for a blueray player. Sony and nintendo crap on developers, you will never have great games because of it, I do not have any great games because of that crap.
October 15th, 2007
The 360s lil’ bump in sales is already over. It was “red hot” for a few days after Halo 3 was released, then fell flat again. But hey, it probably outsold the Wii for a week, we’ll see on Thursday. It’s sad, because we all know that Metroid Prime 3 is soooo much better that Halo 3. I guess it doesn’t have capture the flag though.
October 15th, 2007
It far outsold the DS and Wii by a huge…20K-25K unit margin.
That’s not far outselling at all.
October 15th, 2007
@ Trev:
“Sony haven’t released any of their big games yet”
I thought that’s what Lair and Warhawk were supposed to be?
October 15th, 2007
What the hell is Trev going on about? THE PS3 HAS NEVER OUTSOLD THE XBOX 360. Not even when the price was dropped on the 60 GB. So where in hell did that come from? Trev you’re just a stupid fanboy.
October 15th, 2007
Thanks for pointing that out John. I looked into the sales figures at NDP and you are correct; The Wii has outsold the PS3 and Xbox 360 almost every month since January and the 360 has done the same to the PS3.
I don’t know where Trev gets his info…I guess it could be from Sony…I mean they’re completely honest and dependable people…they rated Lair 10/10 guys…10/10! even when it got 4.9/10 on IGN and an average press rating of 5.5/10.
October 16th, 2007
Sony fanboys cross your fingers and hold your breaths! “The great games are comin!”… Oh yeah? Like when Heavenly Sword and Lair were supposed to be the saviors? Yeah right. One let down after another… not even Warhawk can save the sad software on the PS3.
October 18th, 2007
I personally enjoy every aspect of the XBox 360. I mean, it just keeps getting better. I can connect it to my computer, play games with/against friends that aren’t console people, store media, access media (music/movies), and show all of it on the same 50″ plasma. When I add it all up, Microsoft wins with one device for the living room. I don’t have time to play with all the little players, waiting for a combined package that Microsoft offers today.
October 18th, 2007
[…] Halo 3 (see our review) undoubtedly sold a lot of units, but did it sell systems? Yes, industry analysts are predicting strong 360 sales during the launch period for Halo 3. Uber-Analyst Michael Patcher has suggested that monthly sales of the 360 may have hit 450,000, something of an Xbox 360 sales frenzy. That 450,000 in one month will put the 360 ahead of Wii and streets ahead of Sony’s PS3. For more, please see GAMER.BLORGE. […]
October 18th, 2007
[…] Halo 3 (see our review) undoubtedly sold a lot of units, but did it sell systems? Yes, industry analysts are predicting strong 360 sales during the launch period for Halo 3. Uber-Analyst Michael Patcher has suggested that monthly sales of the 360 may have hit 450,000, something of an Xbox 360 sales frenzy. That 450,000 in one month will put the 360 ahead of Wii and streets ahead of Sony’s PS3. For more, please see GAMER.BLORGE. […]
October 22nd, 2007
I think ps3 is in trouble, even most of the best graphic games out there now dont even use all of the 360’s power. i dont think blu ray even matters. many untill late 2008 or 2009.
October 23rd, 2007
I”m so sick of sonys promises! I dropped 600 bones on what? a damn movie player . I want to play games not watch movies. Sony really need to re-adjust their priorities and start thinking about the gamers. The waitstation3 is going bye bye …hello 360!
October 31st, 2007
I can’t believe how poor the ps3 is it better start doing better at least its no where near as bad as the wii nintendo are spoiling gaming the games are all shocking if u want to play lightgun games and little shitty games go to a arcade at the coast lol nintendo spolt resident evil 4 it was great on the gamecube. oh well i hope to sell my wii asap the xbox 360 as been my favorite console so far and its still getting better just hope the ps3 gets better as well
October 31st, 2007
I can’t believe how poor the ps3 is it better start doing better at least its no where near as bad as the wii nintendo are spoiling gaming the games are all shocking if u want to play lightgun games and little shitty games go to a arcade at the coast lol nintendo spolt resident evil 4 it was great on the gamecube. oh well i hope to sell my wii asap the xbox 360 as been my favorite console so far and its still getting better just hope the ps3 gets better as well. 360 rules
October 31st, 2007
still don’t understand why the nintendo wii sells that was the worse day of my life when i bought that ive always been a nintendo fan but the wii is shocking hopefully this wii fad will fade too bring back the days of the N64 that was the best nintendo console
November 18th, 2007
25k isn’t exactly “far outselling”. Just sayin’ is all.
As far as PS3 and Wii games, give it a year guys. If you look at the 360’s first year it was pretty pathetic, too as far as games scoring 9+ or selling 1 million or more.
Wii: Up until the day before E3 2006 everyone was expecting Gamecube sales numbers. The whole industry was caught off guard. As usual Nintendo is picking up the slack until 3rd games arrive. If you think they’re not coming, go and news hunt for publishers and developers who are jumping ship from the other 2 consoles to make Wii games. Google news search will help here.
PS3: The cell processor is *not* easy to work with, the games will come, but slow at first. Also, it is outselling the 360 in every region except the US. They’ve also made the price manageable.
360: Mine is bricked at the moment, still love it, though. I can’t help but feel like MS shot their wad this holiday season. I can’t think of any really awesome exclusives coming out in the next 6 months.
November 20th, 2007
[…] Xbox 360, though out a year longer, has also done well, and even beat the Wii’s monthly sales due to the Halo 3 effect. But the PS3 continues to struggle, selling under half the amount its two rivals […]
November 20th, 2007
[…] Xbox 360, though out a year longer, has also done well, and even beat the Wii’s monthly sales due to the Halo 3 effect. But the PS3 continues to struggle, selling under half the amount its two rivals […]