How PS Vita, Nintendo 3DS are doing in Japan
3G vs Wi-Fi, Vita vs PSP.
New sales figures have revealed how PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS are doing in Japan.
Statistics released by Japanese sales tracker Media Create (via Andriasang) show figures for the 3G Vita model compared with the Wi-Fi only Vita model.
Surprisingly, when Vita launched in Japan in December, the more expensive 3G unit had the greater share of sales. Since then, however, the imbalance has levelled off and both numbers have sold in equal measure.
Andriasang suggests this shift is the result of retailers providing discounts for 3G units, alongside an official 2000 yen cash back campaign for those who buy a Vita with a game.
Overall, Sony's new portable console is underperforming compared to its predecessor, the PSP. Indeed the PSP currently outsells the Vita in the weekly charts.
The chart, below, shows the Vita's weekly hardware sales for the 3G model in red and the Wi-Fi model in green. Sales are in the units of 10,000. PSP sales for the first eight weeks of its life are shown by the blue line.
The chart also shows the Vita buyer demographics. 82 per cent are male. Buyers peak in the twenties to the mid-thirties range.
On to the Nintendo 3DS, which is flying off of Japan shop shelves. The chart below shows its sales pattern versus its predecessors. The 3DS is green, the DS red and the Game Boy Advance blue. The 3DS overtook the Game Boy Advance on the week 49 mark in like-for-like comparisons, buoyed by the high-profile price cut.
The final chart shows the true extent of the shrinking Japanese retail games market. Since a 2007 peak the market has dropped every year, and in 2011 the market fell below the 500 billion yen mark for the first time since 2005.
