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NEWS: PlayStation 5 Console Sells 118,000 Units in Japan; Xbox Series X/S Sells 20,000

they should've delayed release to stock up like a million in each region

So the PS5 outsold the PS3 by 40% or so, but behind the PS4 by a whopping 66% or so. Really curious to see where it'll stack up compared to those two by the end of the generation. The PS4 blew the PS3 out of the starting gate, but it's currently 1.2 million behind it in lifetime sales with next to no chance of overtaking since I can't imagine it would have anywhere near the post gen legs that the PS2 managed to have.

I’m also not surprised at this result for all the caterwauling people were going on about how Sony was turning off the Japanese segment of their audience off from the brand with some of their decisions.

BadNewsBlues wrote:

I’m also not surprised at this result for all the caterwauling people were going on about how Sony was turning off the Japanese segment of their audience off from the brand with some of their decisions.

That's been the case for awhile though. All the best selling games in Japan are on the Switch, or the 3DS before it. Sony's been losing ground in Japan ever since the PS3 while the Xbox brand has never been a contender in Japan. Gaming in Japan these days is mostly mobage and Nintendo. Sony hasn't been big in Japan since the days of the PS2 and PSP.

I think the price plays a big role in that. The PS3 was really expensive, especially at launch, the PS4 quite the opposite. After just 2-3 year the first sales at around 200,- started to appear, which was insanely fast.
Sure in the end the games will always decide the "winner" and thus the majority of the sales but a quick price drop like the PS4 had will boost the sales a lot too.

You're not the only one. Yeah, ever since PS4's later launch in Japan (remember PS4 launched in Japan several months after it's launched in NA and Europe) , I've started to noticed Sony not taking their Japanese market seriously like they were back during the PS2 and the early era of PS3. Also the fact that Sony's video game headquarter moved from Tokyo to San Mateo, California is another evidence that Sony is not taking the Japanese market like it used to.

Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo. "Sony’s attention is drifting away and fans have started to notice that.”

Sony has placed more importance on the U.S. market after the PlayStation 4’s disappointing performance in Japan, according to employees who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.

Global sales of the PS4 rose to more than 113 million from the PS3’s 87 million, according to Sony data. But the console sold fewer than 10 million units in Japan, less than its predecessor, according to Famitsu, a Japanese video game magazine. The U.S., meanwhile, accounts for 35% of the video game unit’s revenue, compared with 10% for Japan, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. analyst Damian Thong.

A senior figure inside PlayStation headquarters in San Mateo, California, said the U.S. side was frustrated by the failure of the Japan marketing team to sell as many PlayStation 4 units as expected. The person asked not to be identified discussing internal matters.

As a result, Japan has been sidelined in planning the PS5’s promotion, according to several PlayStation staff in Japan. Employees in Tokyo said they have been left awaiting instructions from California.

Japan-based developer support teams have been reduced by as much as a third from their peak, and the rolling contracts of a number of game creators at PlayStation’s Japan Studio, one of the unit’s oldest in-house software ateliers, have not been renewed, former employees said. The U.S. office believes the PlayStation business does not need games that only do well in Japan, employees in the California headquarters said.

Local retailers said they have not received many more first-batch PS5 units than they did of the PlayStation 3, which had a limited initial production run.

"It’s analyst consensus that PlayStation no longer sees the Japan market as important,” Morningstar Research analyst Kazunori Ito said. "If you want to know their take on the Japanese market, you need to ask about it because otherwise Sony wouldn’t talk about it.”

As always, Japan views Microsoft's console efforts as non-existent.

Translated: Japan has returned to Tier 1 since the Xbox 360, and the Japanese Xbox community seems to be booming for the first time in a while.

Reservation acceptance in Japan, which started on September 25, is also sold out immediately.

I don't really know what you mean with the lifetime sales, as there is a huge difference between any of the Playstations, the PS1 and PS4 are the closest with "just" a 10 million difference.

That's been the case for awhile though. All the best selling games in Japan are on the Switch, or the 3DS before it.

Sony's been losing ground in Japan ever since the PS3 while the Xbox brand has never been a contender in Japan. Gaming in Japan these days is mostly mobage and Nintendo. Sony hasn't been big in Japan since the days of the PS2 and PSP.

mdo7 wrote:

You're not the only one. Yeah, ever since PS4's later launch in Japan (remember PS4 launched in Japan several months after it's launched in NA and Europe) , I've started to noticed Sony not taking their Japanese market seriously like they were back during the PS2 and the early era of PS3. Also the fact that Sony's video game headquarter moved from Tokyo to San Mateo, California is another evidence that Sony is not taking the Japanese market like it used to.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2020/11/10/business/tech/microsoft-sony-console-clash/

Quote:

Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Ace Research Institute in Tokyo. "Sony’s attention is drifting away and fans have started to notice that.” Sony has placed more importance on the U.S. market after the PlayStation 4’s disappointing performance in Japan, according to employees who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. Global sales of the PS4 rose to more than 113 million from the PS3’s 87 million, according to Sony data. But the console sold fewer than 10 million units in Japan, less than its predecessor, according to Famitsu, a Japanese video game magazine. The U.S., meanwhile, accounts for 35% of the video game unit’s revenue, compared with 10% for Japan, according to Macquarie Group Ltd. analyst Damian Thong. A senior figure inside PlayStation headquarters in San Mateo, California, said the U.S. side was frustrated by the failure of the Japan marketing team to sell as many PlayStation 4 units as expected. The person asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. As a result, Japan has been sidelined in planning the PS5’s promotion, according to several PlayStation staff in Japan. Employees in Tokyo said they have been left awaiting instructions from California. Japan-based developer support teams have been reduced by as much as a third from their peak, and the rolling contracts of a number of game creators at PlayStation’s Japan Studio, one of the unit’s oldest in-house software ateliers, have not been renewed, former employees said. The U.S. office believes the PlayStation business does not need games that only do well in Japan, employees in the California headquarters said. Local retailers said they have not received many more first-batch PS5 units than they did of the PlayStation 3, which had a limited initial production run. "It’s analyst consensus that PlayStation no longer sees the Japan market as important,” Morningstar Research analyst Kazunori Ito said. "If you want to know their take on the Japanese market, you need to ask about it because otherwise Sony wouldn’t talk about it.”