Friday, February 15,2008 @ 2:10pm
PS3 outsells Xbox 360 for first time, Blu-ray cited
Sony's PlayStation 3 successfully edged out the Xbox 360 in sales for the first time in January, new research data from The NPD Group says. The console sold an estimate 269,000 systems during the first month of the year, significantly outpacing Microsoft's Xbox 360 at 230,000 and just narrowly missing the Nintendo Wii's 274,000 mark. Sony credits the jump in part to the PS3's built-in Blu-ray drive, which gave the console an added edge after news of Warner Bros. dropping HD DVD triggered a spike in sales of Blu-ray players and movies.
Microsoft rejects the notion that the shift represents a changing of the guard and calls the swapped rankings an "anomaly" that will not hold when Xbox 360 supplies return to normal. The console suffered from chronic shortages last month as Microsoft underestimated post-holiday demand. The Redmond, Washington-based company also notes that buyers spent more on the Xbox 360 system and its accessories on average than for its Nintendo and Sony opponents.