Reports of year-to-year hardware sales for the financial quarter were recently released. Sony saw a 25% decline in worldwide sales of the PS3 compared to this financial quarter last year. From April 2011 to June 2011, Sony sold 1.8 million PS3 units. During this time period last year, Sony sold 2.4 million PS3 units worldwide.
The PSP saw an increase of sales by 50%, up to 1.8 million. Previously the PSP sold 1.2 million units during this time period last year. The PS2 saw a decline in sales to only 1.4 million units.
The Nintendo Wii sold 1.56 million units worldwide; it had previously sold 3.04 million units during this time period last year, which means sales of the Wii are down about 50%. The Nintendo DS/DSi handhelds sold 1.44 million units, while the 3DS sold 710,000 units. The sales of the 3DS are expected to increase significantly in August when Nintendo decreases the price from $250 to only $170.
The Xbox 360 is the only console to see an annual increase in year-to-year sales. The Xbox 360 sold 1.7 million units worldwide. During this time period last year the Xbox 360 had sold 1.5 million units. The Xbox 360 console continues to dominate the English-speaking parts of the world, particularly North America -- the largest game market in the world. Xbox 360 has also seen a significant increase in sales in Europe.
The large decline in worldwide PS3 sales represents the worst sales performance the PS3 has seen over the last two years. This is probably why Sony is currently developing the PS4 and is shooting for a release of late 2012 in Japan, and spring of 2013 for other parts of the world.