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AT&T Claims 146,000 iPhone Activations in First Two Days
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Handhelds, Portable Audio / Video,
Numbers are finally starting to come out in regards to how the iPhone performed at launch. While no sales figures were given, AT&T is reporting in it’s second quarter financial results that 146,000 iPhones were activated in the first two days that the product was on the market. While this number seems pretty low to us, we have to keep a few things in perspective. First, this accounts for June 29th and 30th. The iPhone went on sale at 6:00 PM on June 29th, so this is really a measurement of a 30-hour period rather than a full 48 hour one. Secondly, as we all know, iPhones are not activated at the point of purchase. We are sure plenty were bought as gifts or to be resold, and thusly weren’t activated right away. Last, it was widely reported that there were plenty of activation issues surrounding the iPhone launch. We got emails from people who purchased at launch and weren’t able to activate for over 24 hours - some even longer than that.
Another interesting tidbit about AT&T’s report is that 40% of the 146,000 activations were for subscribers new to the AT&T network. That’s a high percentage, all thanks to Apple‘s first foray into the mobile phone space. Very impressive.
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Nearly 800,000 PS3s Sold In Europe
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, PlayStation 3,
According to a report by the Financial Times, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said that Sony was nearing 800,000 PlayStation 3 consoles sold in Europe. With 600,000 of those sales reportedly coming in the first two days of launch, this would seem to indicate a healthy 200,000 units being moved in the three weeks following. One assumes that this is the sell through number, since Sony had previously indicated that 1 million consoles would ship for launch. The numbers are interesting from a couple of perspectives – first, that there would seem to be more people than expected willing to pay the hefty exchange rate adjusted price of the PlayStation 3. The second interesting thing is that European sales are quickly closing in on the Japanese sales numbers. While Japan has taken months to reach nearly 900,000 units sold, Europe is nearly at that point only a month after launch.
Read More 
| Financial Times
Playstation 3 Sells 165K in UK
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3,
Despite reports of low turnouts at midnight launch events for the PlayStation 3 in Europe, Sony managed to break records for console sales during its opening weekend, moving over 165,000 units in the UK. ChartTrack in the UK believes that this sells through approximately 75% of the initial launch allocation for the UK, and surpasses all other console launches in the territory, including the Wii and the Xbox 360. Gamasutra also reports on UK software sales for the opening weekend, with Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm taking spots one and two in the top ten. Of course, launch weekends are generally for the hard core; generally the first couple of million consoles sold are the easiest. Time will tell how Sony’s console does as its purchasing demographic shifts.
Read More | Gamasutra
Sony UK Sales Head Resigns Ahead Of PS3 Launch
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, PlayStation 3,
GamesIndustry.biz is reporting that Sony Computer Entertainment UK head of sales Kevin Jowett has left Sony for unannounced reasons. SCE UK stated that Jowett had left the company to “pursue new opportunities outside of the industry.” Jowett’s departure is interesting in that it comes mere weeks before Sony’s European launch of the Playstation 3; the effect of his departure will likely be unknown until after the launch happens. Given that the sales roadmap has likely been set for quite a while now, it is unlikely that any major changes will happen, but it sounds like Jowett worked closely with a number of Sony’s retail partners and a change in that relationship could potentially have a huge impact.
Read More | GamesIndustry
Casino Royale To First 500K European PS3 Registrants
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Hardware, PlayStation 3,
The ‘semi-official’ Three Speech blog today confirmed that the first 500,000 gamers that register their Playstation 3 console in Europe will receive the Blu-ray release of Casino Royale. Unfortunately the movie will not be a pack-in for release, and users in non-English territories will have to wait until the localized version of the movie is available. Still, this would seem to beat the Talladega Nights pack-in that the US received; on the other hand, one would expect the incentives for the console release in Europe to be slightly better, if only for the high price that those consumers are paying relative to the United States.
Read More | Three Speech
The Bleeding Edge 119: Microsoft Vanishing Point Finale Party
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Internet, Microsoft, Software, Videocasts, Videos,
Read More | The Bleeding Edge
The Bleeding Edge 119: Microsoft Vanishing Point Party
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Gizmatic, Short Bytes, Features, Internet, Microsoft, Software, Videocasts,
When Microsoft threw the final Vanishing Point bash in Seattle, we made sure we were there to see what all the fuss was about. In this episode, we interview those who made the contest happen, and talk about some of the prizes. Want to know all about the grande prize trip to space? It’s in here…
Sony Announces European PS3 Launch Date, Price
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Corporate News, Hardware, PlayStation 3,
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe announced that the Playstation 3 will be available across Europe on March 23rd. Sony expects to have one million PS3 consoles available for the initial launch. Only 60 GB configurations will be shipped to Europe initially, for Euro 599 or GBP 425. At current exchange rates, this puts the UK price point at approximately 840 US dollars and the Euro price point translates to about $780. The pricing of the Playstation 3 has roughly a 50% price premium over the Xbox 360 Premium configurations in Europe, about the same in the US. The delay in Europe does give Sony the advantage of a fuller launch line-up; assuming that there are no further delays, this means that titles that missed the US launch will be available during the launch window in Europe, including games like Elder Scrolls: Oblivion and Motorstorm It was also announced that the downloadable HD port of Tekken: Dark Resurrection will be available, a title that has not yet seen a release in the US. Hopefully the delay for Europe will mean that Sony’s launch goes much smoother than it did for other territories. Given the low bar the console set in the US and Japan, though, it seems that Sony has nowhere to go but up.
Sony’s full press release continues after the jump.
Click to continue reading Sony Announces European PS3 Launch Date, Price
Report: Xbox 360 To Launch In China
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Xbox 360,
A report from Reuters citing “industry sources” indicates that Microsoft may be set to offer the Xbox 360 in China within the next few months. The sources indicated to Reuters that Microsoft has been in talks with Internet service providers and PC makers, and has apparently started discussing a potential launch with the Chinese government. Apparently, the Chinese government requires content review of all video games sold in the country; with this approval, Microsoft could start selling the console as soon as the lunar new year. Launching in China would give Microsoft access to one of the fastest growing game markets in the world, but one where online gaming is generally more successful than console gaming, largely due to price point.
Read More | Reuters
In Two Days, Wii Sells 350K In Europe
Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii,
Nintendo of Europe has released their sales numbers for the launch weekend of the Wii in Europe, and to no surprise, the sales trends mirror the US numbers. Nintendo of Europe managed to move 350,000 consoles in the first two days of sale. Along with those consoles, Nintendo sold 240,000 copies of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; ¾ of the people buying the Wii also purchased Zelda. Again, like in other territories, the success of the Wii does not seem to be leeching sales from the DS; Nintendo sold 515,000 handhelds in the same week as the Wii launch.
Read More | Nintendo Europe
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