Boston (ChatterShmatter) – The Sony PS Vita has been hit with some very negative news reports over the past few weeks since it launched in Japan. Due to a steep drop in sales during its first week of launch, many have predicted doom for the next-gen Sony handheld. It is time to take a deep breath though everyone, the Sony PS Vita is going to be just fine.
To recap, the Sony PS Vita launched in Japan and managed to sell through 320,000 units during its first few days on sale.
This may seem like great news for Sony, but the bad news came when it was revealed that the remainder of the launch week saw sales of only 72,000 units.
This resulted in doom and gloom predictions for Sony and the Sony PS Vita just a week-and-a-half after the new next-generation handheld launched.
Putting things into perspective though, the Sony PS Vita is entering a very new gaming environment from a handheld perspective than was the case when the first Sony PSP launched.
Gamers have a lot more options in the Apple iPad, iPhone, the Nintendo 3DS, and many other options.
The only Sony PS Vita units that Sony was going to sell at its premium launch price point were going to be to the hardcore, dedicated PlayStation fans.
This had to be expected on the part of Sony, and was surely worked into their plans. This could be exactly why they launched the PS Vita at the price they did. Sony has sold through a good chunk of its launch stock, so it is not as if they expected to sell millions of units during launch week.
What Sony has managed to do is launch the Sony PS Vita in Japan to a good, solid user-base of gamers. This allows Sony to get the bugs out and prepare for its worldwide roll-out in February in the U.S. and the U.K.
Sony will launch the PS Vita at an odd time for a launch in North America and Europe, after the holiday shopping season.
This may have been planned though for a purpose. What this is going to allow Sony to do is to garner a good user-base of hardcore early-adopters, and then drop the price of the handheld in September.
A price drop in September 2012, dropping the Wi-Fi version of the Sony PS Vita to $200, would make it far more mainstream than it will appear at the $250 price-point.
By the time September rolls around, they will likely bundle a game or two as well to further entice gamers.
This may come across as desperate to some, but this is likely all part of Sony’s plan. They did a very similar sales strategy with the Sony PS3, and over the long-term enjoyed success from it.
Further digital sales of games over the PlayStation Network will also help Sony garner revenue they did not experience as much in the past.
It is time to breath, Sony had to expect this from the Sony PS Vita, and although it may not seem like sunny days are ahead, the PS Vita will have a huge 2012.
Leave a Reply