News

Posted by: Matt Liebl

• 0 comments

As it turns out, Sony actually shipped 500,000 PlayStation Vita units at launch.  This new report, which runs contrary to earlier rumors of an intial shipment of 700,000 units, comes from IGDA Japan vice coordinator Kyoshi Shin in today's column for Nikkei.

In the column, Shin highlights that Sony had failed to sell out of the initial shipment, citing the initial steep price as the main problem.  The impressive, new tech came with a pretty expensive price - even for its most basic model.  Ultimately, he feels that is reason behind the lack of sales.

Latest sales reports indicate Sony had sold roughly 320,000 PlayStation Vita units in the first two days of its launch.  This number, if indeed correct, is still well shy of the 500,000 shipped.  More shocking is that the PlayStation Vita posted worse sales numbers than the disappointing Nintendo 3DS.  Comparatively, the 3DS sold 370,000 units in its first weekend. 

Despite however many units were actually shipped, Sony has to be disappointed with the initial sales of the system - especially with all of the hype.  With both portable systems posting roughly similar, disappointing opening sales numbers it looks as if the winner will be determined by software sales.  Missing from these shipment and sales reports are what games users purchased with the PlayStation Vita.

Tags: PS Vita