Proving once and for all that the supply and demand curves you studied in econ class hold true in overseas markets, Sony Computer Entertainment Japan president Hiroshi Kawano has revealed that Japanese PlayStation Vita sales after the February 28th price cut jumped four-fold from the level they were at two weeks ago.
Having received Sony executive training, Kawano was unable to just throw out an exact Vita sales number. So, we have to do a few minor calculations to get some idea of how the handheld’s sales are stacking up after the price cut.
According to the latest published Media Create sales data, the PlayStation Vita sold 11.4K units for the week ending February 24th, and 8K units during the week ending February 17th. Kawano’s statement is not clear as which reporting period he is referring to (two weeks ago from today, versus two weeks before the price cut), so this results in a range of 32K to 45.6K for current Vita weekly sales.
While the quadruple Japanese sales are good news for the Vita, even at 45K that puts it just above half of what the 3DS pulls in during an average week. Additionally, without a bump in third-party support (which in Japan means a Monster Hunter title) it’s unlikely that sales will continue to rise.
The other thing to note is that Sony has, so far, decided to keep the PS Vita price point at its current levels outside of Japan. This is understandable considering their financial situation and threat of unfavorable exchange rates, however, any Vita momentum gained by the Japanese price cut will stay locked in Japan at the handheld’s current worldwide price.
Hopefully Sony will be able to find a way to lower the PlayStation Vita‘s price point worldwide. The handheld is a tremendous piece of hardware, but it won’t have much of a future if it continues along its current sales trajectory.
