PS3 boss: We will beat 360 by the summer

"We're huge in Switzerland"

25 January 2008 12:49 GMT / By Amy-Mae Elliott

SCEE president and CEO David Reeves has told trade title MCV that 2008 is the year for the PS3 to make its dent in the gaming market in the UK.

Sony has not officially released sales figures for the console in the UK, but Reeves revealed: "In December we sold just over a million PlayStation 3s during the month. That's across all PAL territories and that's a sell-through figure".

"About 20-22 per cent of that figure was sold in the UK alone. We’re very happy with the performance of PS3 in the UK."

Reeves went on the claim that in certain European territories, such as France, Spain, Germany and Italy – plus some smaller markets like Switzerland – the PS3's "current cumulative installed base" is now higher than Xbox 360.

"It has not yet reached that in the UK. But the team here expect to overtake the installed base of Xbox 360 across all PAL territories in late summer. It's also worth mentioning that last week we outsold Xbox 360 in PAL territories by a ratio of three to one", Reeves stated.

According to official figures, Nintendo has sold over 5 million units in Japan and over 6 million units in Europe. According to NPD data, the company has sold 7.4 million units in the US, bringing their total to over 18 million.

Microsoft has sold about 17.8 million Xbox 360 units worldwide.

Sony, yet to issue total sales figures or even European sales for the PlayStation 3 has sold 1.3 million PS3s in Japan and 3.2 million PS3s in the US.