Let's face it. The PlayStation family didn't blow any socks off with its performance for the month of October. In the U.S. the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2 and PSP were sitting at the bottom half of the the hardware standings, all showing a decline from the previous month, a month that happened to be shorter. But when life hands you lemons, there's a public relations team member tasked with making lemonade. Sony's internal take on October? It wasn't so bad, as it entered the holiday season with "consistent momentum." And PlayStation 3 sales were definitely up year over year (56 percent!) with 30 new titles launched in October alone amounting to 2.3 million units of software sold. There's also some 14 million registered PSN accounts, 43 million PS2s out there and Don’t Mess with the Zohan on the PlayStation Video Store. And for the year, $4.4 billion in revenue isn't so bad. So why no quote from SCEA president Jack Tretton? :(
PlayStation by the Numbers: October 2008 PlayStation Enters the Holiday Season with Consistent Momentum; PS3 Sales Up 56% Year-Over-Year The PlayStation Brand Generated $369 Million in October PLAYSTATION®3 (PS3™) continued its positive momentum in October, with 190K hardware units sold, a 90% growth year-to-date. This represents an increase of 56% when compared to October 2007, during which SCEA introduced a price cut for PS3. Fueled by an unmatched line-up of first-party and third-party titles, PS3 software sales also increased almost 200% year-over-year, with 2.3 million units sold in October. * Nearly 30 new titles were launched for PS3 in October, including first-party exclusives such as LittleBigPlanet, MotorStorm: Pacific Rift and SOCOM: Confrontation and third-party blockbusters including Dead Space, Guitar Hero World Tour, Midnight Club Los Angeles and Fallout 3. * With the holiday shopping season officially kicking off in November, strong software sales are expected to continue with ongoing momentum on LittleBigPlanet and the launch of Resistance 2. * The PLAYSTATION®Network also experienced tremendous growth in North America with its total user registration increasing by 166% since January (source: SCEA Internal Data). There are currently more than 14 million registered PlayStation Network accounts worldwide and more than 270 million pieces of content have been downloaded to date (source: SCEA Internal Data). Newly launched and downloadable content in October included exclusive games such as SOCOM: Confrontation and Linger in Shadows, original content such as Qore: Episode 5, and new blockbuster additions to the video delivery service such as The Happening and You Don’t Mess with the Zohan. The PlayStation Portable (PSP) continued to be a popular choice for entertainment on the go, with 193K hardware units sold for the month. This represented a year-to-date growth of 9%. PlayStation®2 (PS2) hardware unit sales maintained solid ground in October, with 136K hardware units and 1.7 million software units sold. The PS2 has reached an installed base of over 43 million units in the U.S. as of October 2008. Power of the PlayStation Portfolio The PlayStation brand showcased growth across all three platforms, generating $370 million in October. * Year-to-date (Jan-Oct), the PlayStation brand has generated almost $4.4 billion in revenue, representing an increase of 18%. * PlayStation total hardware revenue was $131 million in October, and $1.7 billion year-to-date, representing a growth of 19%. * PlayStation total software revenue in October was $209 million, and $2.2 billion year-to-date, representing a growth of 23%.