PS3 sales increase 130% over festive period

Despite November sales down 18.8% on last year

6 January 2009 18:49 GMT / By Verity Burns

PlayStation 3 sales were up by more than 130% over the festive period, a Sony Computer Entertainment America exec has said.

"We've had a solid holiday season and have delivered consistent growth throughout this year", said sales vice president Ian Jackson.

Jackson described 2008 as "a pivotal year for PlayStation" and that it had "the best software line-up in the industry" on offer.

He added: "Early internal data points to an increase of more than 130 per cent of PS3 hardware sales for the holiday season - since Black Friday - and we're also seeing a growth of nearly 40 per cent in total PS3 hardware sales for the calendar year".

"We remain confident this momentum will continue into the new year".

Despite Jackson's positivity, PS3 sales were actually down by 18.8% during November 2008 compared to 2007, while both Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii sales went up by 8.6% and 108% respectively.

However Sony puts this drop in sales down to the fact that November 2007 was an "abnormally strong month" due to a price cut with the introduction of the 40GB version of the console.

Full tags

Gaming, PS3, Console sales, Sony