According to new figures compiled by research firm NPD Group and released by Credit Suisse First Boston, between 8th October and 8th December, Sony sold 1.4 million units of the PS2. Microsoft has sold 934,000 copies of its Xbox console, while Nintendo’s GameCube has sold 615,000 units. However, the Xbox has only been on sale since 15th November followed three days later by the GameCube. Microsoft expects to sell 1.5 million units by the year end.
To date, Sony says it has sold 6.5 million PS2 units since its October 2000 debut. In addition, PlayStation and PlayStation 2 software sales accounted for more than two thirds of the lucrative console software market during the month of November, according to the reports from the NPD Group. The company previously announced that total PlayStation category sales are projected to bring in more than $1 billion retail revenue during December alone.
Jack Tretton, senior vice president of Sony Computer Entertainment America said:
“Clearly, data for the first month of the holiday sales season indicates that the entire PlayStation family of products will soundly outsell all competitors combined, despite the heralded introduction of new game consoles during this important month."