PlayStation Vita Sales Surge As Price Cut Drives Volume
While the PlayStation Vita hasn’t exactly been a failure, its sales have been dwarfed by those of the Nintendo 3DS as the two devices compete in the handheld gaming market with each other as well as smartphones and tablets. However, after some aggressive price cuts, it looks like the Vita is gaining a bit of steam.
Sony slashed the cost of the Vita in Japan in February, and sales shot up about six-fold the next week, according to Eurogamer. The following week Vita sales were equally strong, thanks in part to the launch of a game called Soul Sacrifice (which itself sold 100,000 copies) and the device actually bested 3DS sales.
Momentum like this is even harder to sustain than it is to create, and even though two weeks of relatively huge sales numbers is a victory for Sony, the company knows that it’s going to have to pull out some more stops to maintain anything close to that pace; this past week a hot new game brought new buyers out, and the week before it was a price cut.
To that end, Sony announced price cuts in the U.S. a few days ago, which may help keep those sales numbers up. Although pricing and availability seems sporadic at best, a PS Vita WiFi+3G can now be had for $199.97 at certain stores, which is a massive markdown from its original $299.99 price tag. Of course, that could also signal that Sony is discontinuing that particular model, but regardless, it may give Vita sales a shot in the arm for a third consecutive week.
Sony slashed the cost of the Vita in Japan in February, and sales shot up about six-fold the next week, according to Eurogamer. The following week Vita sales were equally strong, thanks in part to the launch of a game called Soul Sacrifice (which itself sold 100,000 copies) and the device actually bested 3DS sales.
Momentum like this is even harder to sustain than it is to create, and even though two weeks of relatively huge sales numbers is a victory for Sony, the company knows that it’s going to have to pull out some more stops to maintain anything close to that pace; this past week a hot new game brought new buyers out, and the week before it was a price cut.
To that end, Sony announced price cuts in the U.S. a few days ago, which may help keep those sales numbers up. Although pricing and availability seems sporadic at best, a PS Vita WiFi+3G can now be had for $199.97 at certain stores, which is a massive markdown from its original $299.99 price tag. Of course, that could also signal that Sony is discontinuing that particular model, but regardless, it may give Vita sales a shot in the arm for a third consecutive week.
