PSP Tops Japanese Sales Charts

Kris Erickson • Oct 21, 2008 • Comments ()

The release of Sony's PSP 3000 sparked a surge at retail in Japan last week, as consumers snapped up the new console with enthusiasm. Recent survey data from Famitsu.com suggests that a whopping 155,720 units of the PSP were sold in Japan for the week of October 13 -- October 19. The new PSP 3000 model launched on the 16th, and accounts for the lion's share of these sales numbers, with 141,270 sold in only 4 days. Normally, the PSP sells around 25,000 units per Week in Japan, where the total number of consoles currently stands at around 10.3 million. We will have to wait for the weekly Media Create sales numbers to corroborate these findings, but so far they appear to be spot on.

This means that for the first time in many months, the PSP is the hottest-selling console in Japan, even toppling the perennially popular DS and *gasp* Xbox 360, which has seen a sales spike in recent weeks, bolstered by high-profile RPG release Infinite Undiscovery. In fact, the PSP-3000 is on track to sell more units in October than all other consoles and handheld systems combined. Good job, Sony! Now, if only you could match those numbers with the PS3...

Here is the most recent Japanese hardware chart from the previous week ended October 12th, for comparison:

1. DS 31,914
2. PSP 23,901
3. Wii 22,877
4. Xbox 360 7,763
5. PS2 6,982
6. PS3 5,734