Sony is off to a fast start, and Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter is impressed with the PlayStation 4’s performance.
In fact, he shared some interesting statistics during the most recent Bonus Round episode at GameTrailers. Firstly, he says Sony didn’t start manufacturing the PS4 until September 1, so if they sold 4.2 million by December 31, their manufacturing plan is huge: 16 or 17 million PS4s that will start hitting retailers!
In direct comparison to the competition, Pachter said:
“Microsoft is making a million a month, by the same logic, and their manufacturing plan is twelve (million). So the Microsoft guys actually didn’t believe Sony’s numbers. They didn’t know they were making that many and that’s part of your lack of supply constraint.”
Pachter added he’s “amazed by how ambitious Sony has been with this launch, and impressed that they’re executing it.” It’s a matter of producing enough consoles to suit demand (which didn’t really happen in December, but Sony promises more units soon), because the positive word-of-mouth continues to spread. Perhaps Pachter’s most notable – and headline-worthy quote – was:
“So, Sony fully intends to kick Microsoft’s butt next year.”
“So, Sony fully intends to kick Microsoft’s butt next year.”
Well, sure that’s what they intend, but can they really pull it off? It seems more and more possible with each passing day.
Availability is crucial
The PS4 really wasn’t available at too many retailers during the holiday season, which makes one wonder how many units Sony would’ve sold had more consoles been on store shelves. They say they’ll continue to supply retailers with more stock as fast as possible, which is good news because the demand is obviously there. Wouldn’t it be a super impressive turnaround if Sony won both the worldwide and US markets this generation?
