As if PlayStation Vita’s sales numbers weren’t already alarming, the handheld managed to drop to less than half last week’s numbers, and a full 95% over launch week.
Media Create’s Vita figures place it at 18,361 units sold for the fifth week following release, suffering a strong post-holiday drop (along with other hardware like the 3DS with dropped over 50% to 100,000). Compared to previous weeks it looks like this:
- Week 1: 324,859
- Week 2: 72,479
- Week 3: 42,648
- Week 4: 42,915
- Week 5: 18,361
The low figure places it in fourth for hardware sales during the week of January 9th to January 15th, even behind the older but much more affordable PlayStation Portable. This is concerning, especially with how well the Vita was received before launch, but one that is a bit unsurprising given post-launch trends. With a poor Japanese launch, Sony will have to look to huge marketing campaigns and its noticeably Western launch library to be competitive during future debuts on North American and European shores. Of course, as we’ve discussed before, this doesn’t signal the end of the Vita.
If you’ve been planning to pick-up a Vita once it arrives in the West, have the poor sales in Japan affected your decision? Share your response in the comments below.
