If history has taught us anything about console releases (and technology in general), the Japanese are exceptionally loyal to their ‘homegrown’ brands. – If you want a solid example of this, you only have to look at how, after continuous effort over many years, the Microsoft Xbox has still largely failed to make much of an impact in the country. Something that was rather embarrassingly displayed when on the Japanese launch day, the Xbox One X sold less than 2,000 units.
Following a report via Kotaku, however, there is definitely something unusual happening with the PS5 in Japan. Put simply, sales figures would suggest that when compared to the PS3 and PS4, the newly released system has had a significantly worse opening period.
PS5 Sales in Japan Slump
Putting the sales figures into direct comparison, in the opening 8 weeks of the PS5 being available in Japan, it has sold (roughly speaking) half the quantity seen compared against the PS3 and PS4. – Now, clearly, unlike those prior PlayStation systems, the PS5 does have a rather significant disadvantage as, worldwide, demand is still hugely outstripping supply. That being said. However, it is still more than a little unusual to see sales figures within a country that has so monumentally supported the brand in the past be so, generally speaking, low.
One Possible Theory…
The official line from Sony is that this is definitely an issue with supply rather than demand. The company has cited that the key reason PS5 sales in Japan are so low (at the moment) is directly because they’ve allocated far more units than usual to both the North America and European markets. – Make no bones about it though, if this is a supply issue, then Sony is going to want to sort this out as soon as possible because, quite frankly, there’s a genuine possibility that consumers may start to look towards the Xbox Series X/S as an unideal, but available to buy, compromise.
What do you think? – Let us know in the comments!
