PS3 Australian Launch PR (and some maths) - PS3

As Australian retailers celebrated the midnight arrival of the much anticipated PLAYSTATION 3 (PS3), Sony Computer Entertainment Australia (SCE Aust.) confirmed that discussions with its retail partners indicated that in hardware pre-sales alone, well over $20 million of product had been ordered, prior to launch, by eager consumers. Last night’s midnight shoppers were also keen to experience the full capability of the PS3, with many picking up HDMI cables, PS3 peripherals, Blu-ray Disc movies and a number of launch game titles, including MotorStorm and Resistance: Fall of Man.

Thousands of PlayStation enthusiasts across the country waited patiently for the likes of Harvey Norman, Myer, JB Hi-Fi, EB Games and others to open their doors at midnight, in response to strong pre-order demand from consumers. With over 500 stores opening at midnight across the country, many retailers provided free entertainment to their dedicated customers, who waited patiently to pick up their PS3.

The first PlayStation fan in the queue at Myer Sydney City was Danny Zarka from Pyrmont. At just past midnight, Danny was the first to purchase his PS3 from Myer CEO, Bernie Brookes, and Michael Ephraim, Managing Director, SCE Aust. “I feel very privileged to be the first to buy a PLAYSTATION 3 here tonight” said an excited Danny. “If you love games and movies, why wouldn’t you buy a PLAYSTATION 3?”

Michael Ephraim, who was invited to the Myer Sydney City launch as a special guest, commented on the evening’s success: “It was a night for games and consumer electronics retailers to celebrate this new chapter in home entertainment. We are thrilled to see the PLAYSTATION 3 on sale at our retail partners across Australia. Today marks the first day in a long journey ahead for the PS3, which we believe will still have a place in the centre of the living room in ten years’ time.”

“There has been so much talk about our next generation console that it is exciting for us that the public now get to experience it for themselves and make up their own minds. The PS3 is a complete digital entertainment solution for the home and will change the way we share, view, hear and play with the digital content in our lives.”

“Our retailer partners have always been very supportive of PlayStation and we are delighted that demand was so strong from consumers for the PS3 prior to launch, that many of them benefited from opening their stores at midnight. Following the reports on attendance that I have heard from our retailers, I am certain there will be a few tired PlayStation fans around the country this morning! I am also confident, going forward, that we have ensured there is enough stock in the country to keep up with ongoing demand from consumers, especially those who have not pre-ordered, but still want to purchase a PS3 as soon as possible,” he said.

Many consumers, who waited patiently at stores until midnight to purchase their PS3, immediately headed off home, planning a long night ahead of them to get to grips with the console. Many were also keen to connect their PS3 to the internet at home and register on the PLAYSTATION Network, with SCE Aust. offering a free copy of ‘Casino Royale’ on Blu-ray Disc as a bonus for the first 20,000 Australian registrants.

The PLAYSTATION 3 is a fully featured multimedia device, capable of handling not just awe-inspiring games, but your photos, your music, your movies, your downloads, the internet and your entire digital life. Packed full of cutting-edge technology, the console gives consumers next-generation home entertainment through a built in Blu-ray Disc player.

Sliced Comments: $20m in console pre-orders, divided by $1000 per console, gives us 20,000 preorders. Let's do some maths and see if we can work out how much people will spend in total. If we take the $1000 retail price of the PS3, and add a second $80 Sixaxis controller and a third party title (say, Activision's Call of Duty 3) at $120, let’s estimate that people spent $1200 on their systems. That gives us sales of $24m. But many were “picking up HDMI cables, PS3 peripherals, Blu-ray Disc movies and a number of launch game titles”. So, if we add to that a $100 dollar HDMI cable (for the minimum length Sony offers), a peripheral – the $50 Blu-Ray remote, some Blu-Ray movies (between $30 and $40) at $70, and a couple more games (let’s be nice and assume they’re the cheaper first party offerings) for $200. The total price is $1620. Now, I’m going to make the assumption that if they’re buying it today, or this morning, they’re reasonably hardcore, and would be more likely to buy the second package I’ve proposed rather than the first. So, 20,000 multiplied by $1620 gives us $32.4m in sales. Impressive...if all those preorders turn into sales.