Japanese Vita Sales Quadruple After Price Drop

[StewShearerOld]

Japanese Vita Sales Quadruple After Price Drop

Japanese sales of the PlayStation Vita have jumped following a region-exclusive price drop.

Things could be looking up for the PlayStation Vita. <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115334-Vita-Sales-Get-Even-Worse>Long plagued by underwhelming retail figures, Vita sales in Japan saw a fairly dramatic increase following Sony's decision to lower its price in the region. Speaking at an event, Sony Japan president Hiroshi Kawana told audience members that Vita sales had quadrupled since the price drop was introduced at the end of February.

This is rare positive news for the Vita, which has struggled since its launch. Sony has had to <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121979-Sony-Cuts-Vita-Sales-Predictions>slash its projections for the handheld, and CEO Kaz Hirai admitted in January that sales have been <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121407-Hirai-Vita-Sales-On-the-Low-End-of-Expectations>"on the low end of what we expected." It's an admission that could be seen by some as an understatement, especially in light of the success of the Vita's competitors. Nintendo's 3DS, during one week in 2012, sold <a href=http://gamasutra.com/view/news/181594/3DS_outsells_Vita_47to1_in_Japan.php>forty-seven times as many units as the Vita and regularly trounces it in worldwide sales charts.

If the boost in Japanese sales remains consistent, it may be a confirmation of what many have seen as the main cause behind the Vita's sluggishness: its price. The Vita, with a game and memory card, can cost more than a new PS3. With the worldwide economy still deep in recession it's a luxury many gamers can't afford. Even a small price drop (the Japanese price fell only about $50) could be enough to help the Vita become a more viable product. Whether or not Sony will extend the discount to the rest of the world is now the question.

The company might do well to remember its own history while deciding how to answer. PS3 sales were similarly slow until its price fell, and the Nintendo 3DS, which launched at the same price as the Vita, also endured its own slow period until Nintendo opted to <a href=http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/121419-3DS-Sells-10-Million-Units-in-Japan>lower its sticker price.

Source: <a href=http://game.watch.impress.co.jp/docs/news/20130304_590334.html?ref=twitter>Game Watch via <a href=http://gematsu.com/2013/03/sony-japan-president-ps-vita-sales-have-increased-four-fold>Gematsu

Permalink

 

[McGuinty1]

Lower price = increased demand? Mind = blown.

 

[snekadid]

Lower price = increased demand? Mind = blown.

I know right? It sounds like someone finally took econ101 over there.

 

[CriticalMiss]

Lower price = increased demand? Mind = blown.

That is clearly not the case. It's much more likely that there is some kind of equinox, planetary alignment or ley-line activity responsible. Sony have scrambled their seers and are warming up the crystal balls to figure out how to repeat the outcome. What is this echo gnome icks anyway?

 

[Jhooud]

Yea! This is good. Now cut the silly pricing on the proprietary memory cards, and you just might seize victory from the jaws of irrelevance.

 

[Malfy]

Good to hear. Sony's bright idea to have proprietary, expensive memory cards was my initial reason not to get one until the Black Friday sale a few months ago. The Vita still can't do everything right (namely video streaming on a number of sites, no 4G connection, might not be comfortable to hold depending on your hands, most of its library is digital download only, and rarely advertised) but I'm still glad I own mine. If they are going to sell the Vita as the Robin to PS4's Batman, a price drop in the States is a no-brainer, maybe even included as a PS4 bundle.

 

[The White Hunter]

I feel thats omebody at sony has finally been smacked with enough basic Econ diagrams to get it into their thick skull that more people buy your shit if it's cheaper.

Honestly youc an get a Vita with a game and 4gb memory card for £200. If it was a 32GB card that'd be fine by me.

So when's the EU and US price cuts? : D

Edit: Oh and seriously guys a bundle for a wi-fi only Vita with Killzone Mercenary and a 32GB stick for £200? That I'll buy. I do want one, it's just that right now it'd put way too much hurt on my wallet. Promising hardware thats been damaged by Sony's arrogance.

 

[joshuaayt]

Well, look, you can start the game charging 150%, sure, but then you just know that, eventually, most of your customers are gonna leave the store pissed off. Keep the prices at 104%, though, and you start to generate hearts from your customers- THEN you can overcharge the hell out of them- Come on, Sony, we all know this.

Though Sony doesn't have to deal with that damn little girl and her pathetic little wallet.

 

[bandit0802]

Yea! This is good. Now cut the silly pricing on the proprietary memory cards, and you just might seize victory from the jaws of irrelevance.

More games and/or good games might help, too.

 

[drisky]

I'm seeing more price drops the day after E3. They know its time, they just want to have a lot of people listening when they announce it. Whether or not the cards drop in price too we will have to see. At least you can connect it to your computer and hold data there when you aren't using it.

 

[shintakie10]

Well, look, you can start the game charging 150%, sure, but then you just know that, eventually, most of your customers are gonna leave the store pissed off. Keep the prices at 104%, though, and you start to generate hearts from your customers- THEN you can overcharge the hell out of them- Come on, Sony, we all know this.

Though Sony doesn't have to deal with that damn little girl and her pathetic little wallet.

So take a reverse Valve approach?

 

[Verlander]

Need to drop it significantly more to get my interest. It's a nice piece of kit, got to play with one at EuroGamer, but too rich for my tastes

 

[Ukomba]

Lower price = increased demand? Mind = blown.

That is clearly not the case. It's much more likely that there is some kind of equinox, planetary alignment or ley-line activity responsible. Sony have scrambled their seers and are warming up the crystal balls to figure out how to repeat the outcome. What is this echo gnome icks anyway?

Sorry, but it was 'Silent Hill: Book of Memories' finality coming out in Japan that did it. Everyone had to have them some sweet sweet multi-player Silent Hill.

 

[CyberAkuma]

The price drop of the VITA will be rendered entirely moot if the price of their ridiculous memory cards are still gonna stay the same.

I don't care what you are trying to drag me in to, I am not paying more than $50 bucks for a 16 GB memorycard that has Class 2 speeds and reliability when I can buy a Class 10 Professional Grade SDHC Memory card of the same size for a THIRD of that price.

Sony are just plain greedy and hell will be freezing over before they ever drop their ridiculous schemes with propiertary overpriced formats.

 

[Mr.Mattress]

Okay, so let me see if I can do the math.

The Vita Mostly sold under 100,000 units per week after it's launch (And with a few exceptions). To be fair, I'm gonna use the number established around Christmas 2011: 72,000 Units. So let's see:

72 x 4: 288...

So, they sold from 250-300,000 Units after the price drop? I guess that's alright.

 

[MPerce]

Okay....almost there, guys. Now quit charging a ridiculous amount for the memory card, and we'll be good.

That and keep building the game library. Right now there are only two games on the Vita I'd buy at full retail, and one of them is a remake of a game I already own...

 

[J Tyran]

The Vita does cost more than a PS3, basic super slim PS3s with 12GB of flash memory[footnote]not enough for digital distribution titles but more than enough for saves and patches[/footnote] cost as little as £160. PS Vitas around £190, sometimes you get special editions for £200 with a 4GB card and a code to download a game from the PSN store. Which promptly fills the tiny memory card.

 

[The White Hunter]

I knew this would happen, make the console cheaper and more people will want it, now all it needs is some more popular games on it (Like Monster Hunter and other such games) and they will be completely flying off shelves.

Now all they need to do is fix the memory card prices, those are far too ridiculous.

Hopefully, the Vita is on its way back up!

It's not that people don't want it mate, there are a lot of people like me that do want it, but aren't willing to pay the "rather high indeed" pricing sturcture sony has in place for the thing. Up until the price was announced I was genuinely excited for this damn thing and then they were like yeah it's £250 and I was like "noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo".

It isn't that more people will want it, it's that more people will be willing to pay the price to have it.

I really hope this leads to some EU and US price cuts.