Quote:PS2 Has Massive Holiday
Last year's buying season was quite kind to Sony.

January 08, 2003 - The PlayStation 2 enjoyed substantial success in the United States during the 2002 holiday season, Sony Computer Entertainment America announced in its annual press release touting the successes of the previous year. More than four million PS2s sold through at retail in November and December -- approximately one million in November and three million in December. Those sales represent a 42% growth over the same period in 2001.
Worldwide, approximately 8.5 million units of hardware were sold during the two months. 3.4 million units sold in Europe, a 27% increase over the previous year, and 940,000 units sold in Japan, a 27% decrease. The drop in Japanese sales, even over that country's lengthier shopping season (through the first week of January) indicates that the console is reaching the saturation point in its home country -- i.e., as many customers own PS2s as are likely to buy game consoles.

Sony remains on track to meet its planned worldwide shipping target of 22.5 million consoles in the fiscal year ending March 2003, and expects to turn a profit of 180 billion yen this fiscal year, a 10-fold increase over the previous year.

A total of 45 million units of PS2 software were sold from the beginning of the year through the end of November in the United States, increasing the system's software-to-hardware tie ratio (the average number of games owned by each console owner) to 7.7. More than 200,000 players reportedly made their way online using the PS2 Network Adaptor (some of them players of the more than 700,000 units of SOCOM: US Navy SEALs sold by the end of the year), and demand for the peripheral remained strong, with more than 400,000 units shipped to retail by the end of the year.

"We operate our business based on the fundamental belief that great games drive consumer purchase decisions. As Sony Computer Entertainment America evaluates our eighth holiday selling season in tangible measures, we affirm yet again the value of our approach to our partners," said Jack Tretton, executive vice president, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "In the new year we will raise the bar in interactive entertainment even higher as we delve into exciting new internal development and licensee opportunities to grow our platform businesses."

The original PlayStation, meanwhile, enjoyed brisk sales for an eight-year-old console, selling nearly one million units in November and December.

We of course offer our congratulations to Sony on the occasion of their Godzilla(or perhaps King Ghidora)-esque domination of the videogame business, and wish them further success in the future.