PS3 sales plummet in Japan ahead of slim launch

ales of the PlayStation 3 have plummeted 65 per cent on last week in Japan ahead of the new slim hardware launch, putting the console - with 2052 sales - at the bottom of the latest hardware chart.

Media Create figures show that while the PlayStation 3 showed the biggest drop however, sales were down across the board, with the DS still topping the hardware chart but with sales of 65,313 compared to 95,957 last week - a reduction of 32 per cent.

Nintendo Wii sales were also down - to the extent that the console switched positions with the PlayStation Portable at number three. The home console sold 26,972 units for the week - a drop of 43 per cent on last week's 47,732.

The PlayStation Portable sold just above that number - 27,187 - a drop from 39,882 last week. The Xbox 360 suffered only a small reduction in sales from last week, at 8979 from 9162 the week prior.

PlayStation 2 outsold the PlayStation 3 by over 1000 units - selling 3295 for the week.

The full Media Create Japanese hardware chart for the week ending August 24 is as follows:

01 Nintendo DS - 65,313
02 PlayStation Portable - 27,187 -
03 Nintendo Wii - 26,972
04 Xbox 360 - 8,979
05 PlayStation 2 - 3,295
06 PlayStation 3 - 2,052

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