Did you know you can cook bread with steam?
© 2026 Appliancenews. All Rights Reserved.
More than 20,000 Sony PS3 consoles and accessories worth more than $25 million have been sold in Australia during the past few days. This falls significantly short of both the Microsoft Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii first week sales.
However the big advantage to Sony Computer Entertainment is that it is selling a console that has a big margin in it for both the retailer and itself.
The Microsoft Xbox 360 sold 30,421 units valued at $30 and $40 million in its first week and the Nintendo Wii over 32,901 units at an average price of $399.
According to Games Spot “At more than 20,000 units in the first three days, the PS3 looks unlikely to challenge the Nintendo Wii for the title of fastest seller in Australia.” The previous record holder was the Xbox 360, which sold 30,421 units in its first four days of availability. Before the 360, Sony’s PSP was king with 27,055 units sold in the first four days.
Over at eBay the PS3 has appeared to be flop compared to past sales of pre ordered Xbox consoles. On past form, the launch of the PlayStation 3 should have provided a guaranteed quick buck for anyone lucky enough to secure a pre-ordered console, but eBay’s pricelist suggests that this time round the touts have misjudged demand.
When the Xbox 360 and PlayStation Portable arrived they were fetching two or three times their asking prices on the online auction site, but Sony’s latest console is going for about $900 less than the recommended retail price.
The problem for the PS3 touts is that the console is still readily available with Sony Entertainment Australia PR Manager Adrian Christie saying “We are confident that we can keep up supply to retailers. This is a committment we made prior to the launch and we intend to keep it”.
Analysts have said that the high price of the PS3 may also have reduced demand. Carl Gressum, senior analyst at the technology consultancy Ovum, said the first buyers would be dedicated Sony fans. “Those consumers tend to be willing to pay a large premium to get the new PlayStation,” he said. “That is a limited market so Sony will need to get the price down quickly in order to reach a bigger market.”
Retailers and analysts have suggested that PlayStation sales will strengthen throughout the year and are predicting Australian sales of between 120,000 and 200,000 consoles by the end of the year.
Those looking for quicker profits would have done better to focus their attention on the Nintendo Wii, a $399 games system with a wireless, motion sensitive wand. This console, packaged with five games, is fetching more than $800 on eBay.
