So far, Sony has managed to sell around 46 million of the PlayStation 3 console since its release back in 2006. While those numbers seem quite decent, some big names from Sony think the PS3 may find it difficult to match the overall success of the PlayStation 2.
Phil Harrison, former head of Sony Worldwide Studios, believes that the PS3 will have a much more difficult road to face before it catches up to the outstanding achievement of the PS2. Harrison thinks that the PS2’s success was probably due to a lack of competition in the market during its earlier life cycle.
“I hope PS3 can match PS2, but I think the market dynamics are slightly different. It’s much more competitive.
“For a large chunk of its life-cycle, the PS2 didn’t really have any competition anywhere in the world, so Sony was able to sell a huge number of units. If PS3 does reach the same level it will take longer and it will be a more difficult challenge.”
Harrison also believed that the PS2 had a much larger support from dedicated 3rd party devs, and that it had more exclusives as a result – something that the PS3 doesn’t share as much as its predecessor.
“I think PS2 was probably the last era in which you will see that happen in a meaningful way.”
However, Sony Europe’s founding president, Chris Deering has much higher hopes for the PS3, believing that the console will be as successful as the PS2 and even have the chance to out-pace it.
“I think it can sell as many as PS2, maybe more. In the case of both PS1 and PS2, we sold more Slim units than original models. The PS3 Slim has only been out a couple of years. If you could get a PS3 for a hundred pounds… Can you imagine? It could go much higher and last longer.”
To date, the PS2 has been able to rake in an astounding 147 million sales since it hit the market back in 2000. Looks like we’ll get a better idea of where the PS3 stands when we get closer to 2016.
[Via]
