Tag Archives: sales

Sony & Microsoft release new sales figures for their motion peripherals

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Last we heard out of the video game giants Sony had shipped 1 million Move controllers in one month, and Microsoft had sold 1 million Kinect sensors in ten days.  Post-Black Friday, the companies were eager to share the latest sales figures for these products.  As of November 2010 Sony has shipped over 4.1 million units worldwide, and Microsoft has sold over 2.5 million Kinect sensors globally in 25 days.  Now bear in mind that there’s a notable difference between units shipped and units sold.  Unlike Microsoft, Sony is not reporting actual sales results; instead they are reporting the number of units shipped to retailers.  A Sony rep says that the company won’t “disclose [their] exact sell-through number”, and that kind of chips away at their impressive and somewhat misleading stat.  Nevertheless, there’s no denying that the new motion peripherals are happily riding the Wii’s coattails this holiday season.

[Via Engadget, here & here]

Cudder’s MOTM2 sells over 176,000 copies in first week

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Kid Cudi’s sophomore record Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager had a terrific first week in sales.  It sold 176,298 copies in just seven days!  Feel free to compare this to sales from last years debut; MOTM: The End of Day sold 104,000 copies.  Cudder’s heading in the right direction, that’s for sure.  And here’s a awesome stat for yah: 26,000 copies were preordered on iTunes, making this album one of the fastest selling records for Universal Music before it even released!  Speaking of iTunes, 55,000 copies of the album were purchased on iTunes on day one. Quite impressive, young Mescudi.  If you haven’t got your paws on this runaway hit, only lord knows what you’re waiting for.

[Via DatNewCudi]

Microsoft sells 1 million Kinect sensors in 10 days

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Today Microsoft is happy to report that it sold one million Kinect for Xbox 360 units worldwide during the product’s first ten days on store shelves.  Before the Kinect launched on November 4, Microsoft raised its worldwide sales forecast from 3 million to 5 million sensors sold by year-end; according to today’s official press release (which is posted after the break for your perusal) the company is still on pace to hit that higher mark before 2010 closes.  President of the Interactive Entertainment Business Don Mattrick shares his excitement and reiterates what I just told you: “We are appreciative of the response we have seen from consumers that has culminated in sales of more than 1 million units in the first 10 days on the market for Kinect for Xbox 360.  This is a great start to the holiday season, and we will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than 5 million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year.”  I know what you’re thinking.  How does this compare to the PlayStation Move sales recently reported?  Well, it’s hard to say.  And that’s because Sony did not post units sold; rather they publicly announced that they shipped over one million units during the product’s first month on sale.  We’ll definitely have a better look at head-to-head sales figures when the companies decide to share post-holiday data.

[Via Joystiq] Continue reading Microsoft sells 1 million Kinect sensors in 10 days →

CoD Black Ops tops Modern Warfare 2 in day one sales to become biggest entertainment launch in history

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The video games industry has done it again.  More specifically, Activition has pushed out another Call of Duty game that has managed to break launch day records and become the biggest entertainment launch in history.  Call of Duty: Black Ops garnered $360 million during its first day on sale in the United States and United Kingdom, according to internal Activision estimates.  This sales figure beats out MW2 which generated $310 million almost exactly one year ago.  5.6 million copes of Black Ops were sold on day one, topping MW2‘s 4.2 million copies sold.

Says Activision CEO Bobby Kotick: “There has never been another entertainment franchise that has set opening day records for two consecutive years and we are on track to outperform last year’s five-day global sales record of $550 million.  The game’s success underscores the pop culture appeal of the brand. Call of Duty: Black Ops is the finest game that Treyarch has ever made and raises the bar for online gameplay by delivering the deepest and most intense Call of Duty experience yet.  The Call of Duty franchise has over 25 million players around the world that are engaged in billions of hours of online gameplay, and we are committed to supporting them with new content and features on a more frequent and regular basis.”

Yes, that feeling of speechlessness is normal.  Wowzers.

[Via Activision; Joystiq]

Sony ships 1 million Move controllers in first month of availability

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The suits at Sony have something to smile about.  Today the company reported having shipped 1 million PlayStation Move controllers in North and Latin America in the first 30 days of availability.  SCEA CEO Jack Tretton is enthused to say the least.  “Retail demand is incredibly strong and we’re working hard to keep the product in stock”, he said.  “We believe consumers have already shown their preference for a precise, interactive game experience.  We are on target to meet our end of year goals and expect sales to increase as our publishers and developers continue to update popular titles and introduce new games.”  This is certainly great news for Sony, but Joystiq makes a solid point when they say this announcement does not help you figure the precise install base of the new motion controller.  Many PS3 owners likely purchased more than one Move for two-hand and multiplayer functionality.  Still, this does not take away the fact that Sony has something powerful in their (er, our) hands.  Right now there’s 24 Move-supported titles out, with 17 more promised before the year runs out.  I gotta get my Move on.  Full PR after the break.

[Via Joystiq] Continue reading Sony ships 1 million Move controllers in first month of availability →

Apple reports 2010 Q4 earnings: “highest revenue and earnings ever”; Steve Jobs calls out Google & RIM

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As 2010 nears its end, it’s time for companies to share how well (or poorly) they performed during the fourth quarter of the year.  As is the norm for Apple, Inc., Q4 has been another record breaker for them.  Apple posted a record revenue of $20.34 billion and net quarterly profit of $4.31 billion.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a revenue of $12.21 billion and profit of $2.53 billion.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “We are blown away to report over $20 billion in revenue and over $4 billion in after-tax earnings-both all-time records for Apple.  iPhone sales of 14.1 million were up 91 percent year-over-year, handily beating the 12.1 million phones RIM sold in their most recent quarter.  We still have a few surprises left for the remainder of this calendar year.”

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.89 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 27 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 14.1 million iPhones (representing a 91 percent unit growth); 9.05 million iPods (representing an 11 percent unit decline); and 4.19 million iPads were sold, succeeding the number of Macs sold!  That’s some crazy stuff right there.  And as for Jobs’ “hobby” that is Apple TV?  The new model sold 250,000 units over the course of its first 18 days on sale.

Looking ahead to the first fiscal quarter of 2011, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $23 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $4.80.  Saying this was a tremendous quarter for Apple is a huge understatement.

Normally this is where the Apple quarterly earnings post would conclude, but El Jobso couldn’t contain his excitement over the record breaking numbers so he decided to jump onto the conference call (listen to it here) and share some thoughts.  Charged thoughts on the competition.  Some choice quotes:

On RIM’s business model: “[iPhone] handily beat RIM’s most recent quarter.  We’ve now passed RIM and I don’t see them catching up with us in the foreseeable future.  They must move beyond their area of strength and comfort into the unfamiliar territory of trying to become a software platform company.  I think it’s going to be a challenge for them to create a competitive platform and to convince developers to create apps for yet a third software platform, after iOS and Android.  With 300k apps on Apple’s app store, RIM has a high mountain ahead of them to climb.”  “I think at least now it’s a battle for developers, and a battle for the mindshare of developers, and a battle for the mindshare of customers, and I think right now iPhone and Android are winning that battle.”

On Google’s Android “openess” & fragmentation: “Google wants to characterize Android as open, and iOS and the iPhone as closed.  We think this is disingenuous.  Unlike Windows, which has the same interface on every machine, Android is very fragmented.  Compare this with iPhone, where every interface is the same.”  “Twitter client TwitterDeck recently launched their app for Android.  They reported that they had to contend with more than 100 different version of Android software on 244 different handsets.  The multiple hardware and software iterations presented developers with a daunting challenge.”  “We think this open versus closed argument is a smokescreen that hides the real question: What’s better for users, fragmented versus integrated?”  “We are very committed to the integrated approach, no matter how many times Google characterizes it as closed, and we believe that it will trump the fragmented approach, no matter how many times Google characterizes it as open.”

Continue reading Apple reports 2010 Q4 earnings: “highest revenue and earnings ever”; Steve Jobs calls out Google & RIM →

‘Lost’ auction nets over $1 million, fans revel at The Island one last time

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From August 21-22 the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California was transformed into a Lost fan’s wet dream.  Not only did it house Lost memorabilia for the show’s most diehard fans and collectors to bid on, but it also contained key set pieces from the show (ie. the Oceanic 815 plane, the hatch, pieces of The Black Rock and The Temple) and actors (Sterling Beaumon (Young Ben Linus), Andrea Gabriel (Nadia), and Daniel Roebuck (Dr. Arzt)) for fans to see and take pictures with.  The auction was a smashing success; people in-person, over the telephone, and online paid a pretty penny to call themselves owners of some of Lost‘s most recognizable items.  The first day of bidding netted around $900,000, and early estimates speculated that the second day would exceed sales of $1 million.  Though it has not been disclosed where all the money will go, it has been made public that an undetermined portion of the proceeds will land in the hands of Hawaii-based charities.

So how much did some of the most exciting items go for?  The Dharma Van proved to be the most valuable item at the auction; it sold for $47,500!  Not even Hurley’s hot Camaro, which sold for $20,000, could top the vehicle that turned Hurley’s luck around.  Somewhat fitting, isn’t it?  Other top prizes include: Jacob’s dial mechanism and mirror array from “The Lighthouse” ($27,500); the frozen donkey wheel ($22,500);  Faraday’s journal ($20,000); the Dharma Swan station computer ($16,000); the pilot script signed by J.J. Abrams & Damon Lindelof ($15,000); 12 cans of Dharma beer ($5,000); Locke’s wheelchair ($3,250); and Sawyer’s paperback copy of Watership Down ($2,750).

Look after the break for a slightly more extensive list of the top-selling items from the auction.  Also after the break is a 12-minute video that will take you on a brief tour around the hangar.

[Via EW-PopWatch; TheWashingtonPost] Continue reading ‘Lost’ auction nets over $1 million, fans revel at The Island one last time →

Apple reports 2010 Q3 earnings: $3.25b profit, Macs up 33%, iPhones up 61%, iPods down 8%, iPad…

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The third quarter of 2010 has come to a close.  And you know what that means: Apple gets to flaunt how much money its racked in thus far.  Yesterday Apple posted its Q3 earnings and–you guessed it–it was another record quarter for the tech company.  Apple posted a $3.25 billion profit on $15.7 billion in revenue.  Compare this to one year ago, that’s up from a profit of $1.83 billion on $9.73 billion in revenue.  Says CEO Steve Jobs: “It was a phenomenal quarter that exceeded our expectations all around, including the most successful product launch in Apple’s history with iPhone 4.  iPad is off to a terrific start, more people are buying Macs than ever before, and we have amazing new products still to come this year.” (Emphasis added, of course.)

Now let’s break it down by product category.  Apple sold 3.47 million Macs during the quarter (representing a 33 percent unit increase over the year-ago quarter); 8.4 million iPhones (representing a 61 percent unit growth); 9.41 million iPods (representing an 8 percent unit decline).  This is the first quarter that includes iPad sales, so how did they do?  3.27 million iPads were sold, nearly matching the total amount of Macs sold.  Boom.  And here’s an interesting stat: international sales accounted for 52 percent of the quarter’s revenue.

Looking ahead to the fourth quarter, Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer expects revenue of about $18 billion and diluted earnings per share of about $3.44.  Antennagate or no Antennagate, Apple isn’t going anywhere people.       Job(s) well done.

[Via Engadget]

iPhone 4 sales, international ship date, proximity sensor update & white model get discussed [Update: White iPhone delayed until end of year]

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At the press conference that formally addressed the iPhone 4 antenna problem Apple alloted some time to discuss other news surrounding the magical (if it’s in a case) phone.  Apple has sold over three million iPhone 4s since it launched three weeks ago.  He also says the 4 has received “the highest customer satisfaction of any iPhone or smartphone.”  Next up, the iPhone 4 will ship in 17 more countries on July 30, including a bunch of European countries, Canada, New Zealand, Australia, and Hong Kong.  Noticably missing from the list was South Korea who was on the late-July shipping list back at WWDC.  Apple also addressed the problem some users are having with the proximity sensor; it involves intermittent malfunctions where the display stays on during a device-to-ear phone call, and this results in accidental hang-ups when the phone is pressed up to the face.  The next iOS 4 software update promises to remedy it.  Lastly, you can expect the white iPhone 4 to ship at the end of this month, a tad later than expected.

Update: Today (7/23) Apple announced in a brief press statement that the white iPhone 4 model will not ship at the end of this month.  Due to manufacturing problems, it “will not be available until later this year.”

[Via Engadget, here & here]

Apple sells 2 million iPads in under 60 days

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It seems like it was just yesterday when we received news that Apple sold one million iPads in a matter of 28 days.  Oh wait–that did just happen.  Time for another milestone in the history of the iPad.  Shortly after launching the iPad in international waters (Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, Switzerland and the UK), Apple can proudly claim that they’ve sold two million iPads in under 60 days since its US launch on April 3.  Says Apple CEO Steve Jobs: “Customers around the world are experiencing the magic of iPad, and seem to be loving it as much as we do. We appreciate their patience, and are working hard to build enough iPads for everyone.”  And let the good times roll for Team Apple.  Full PR after the break.

[Via Apple] Continue reading Apple sells 2 million iPads in under 60 days →

Nintendo DS handhelds surpass Game Boy sales

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In their latest quarterly earnings report, Nintendo happily announced that their DS line of handhelds (DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi XL) has officially sold more units than the their Gameboy predecessors.  The DS family has sold around 129 million units, briskly passing the 118 million Game Boy handhelds sold.  Although this makes the DS line the best selling handheld gaming device in history, the Sony PlayStation 2 still wears the crown when it comes to all video game devices with 140 million units sold.  Anyhow, way to go Ninty!  Nintendo 3Ds, come out, come out wherever you are.

[Via Nintendo; Engadget]

28 days later…Apple sells 1 millionth iPad

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April 3 to May 3.  28 days.  1 million iPads sold.  The “revolution” has begun, wouldn’t you say?  The “magical” device Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduced to the world back in January now sits in the hands of over one million people.  This impressive feat surpassed the rate at which the iPhone flew off store shelves, and Jobs was quick to make this fact known: “One million iPads in 28 days-that’s less than half of the 74 days it took to achieve this milestone with iPhone.  Demand continues to exceed supply and we’re working hard to get this magical product into the hands of even more customers.”  Also within this time frame, over 12 million apps from the App Store and over 1.5 million ebooks from the iBookstore were downloaded to iPads.  Read the full PR after the break.

[Via Apple] Continue reading 28 days later…Apple sells 1 millionth iPad →