Holiday Sales Propel PlayStation to Top Position as Best-Selling Home Console in Videogame History

Business Wire, Jan 13, 2000

Business Editors & High Tech Writers

FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 13, 2000

PlayStation Business Outperforms Category and Exceeds Company's

Original $1 Billion Revenue Projection for Holiday 1999

The successful 1999 holiday selling season for retailers was boosted by a momentous year in the burgeoning videogame industry, with Sony Computer Entertainment America announcing today that holiday sales of their PlayStation(R) game console have catapulted the system to the position as the best-selling home console of all time.

Sales for the PlayStation business indicate that the platform significantly contributed to the overall retail revenue during the holiday season. Sony Computer Entertainment America's PlayStation business clearly dominated in all sales categories - hardware, software and peripherals - equating to more than $1.5 billion in retail sales during this time period. This figure marks a significant increase from the company's original $1 billion projection announced in November.

Additionally, the company extended its commanding industry lead with PlayStation console sales of almost 3 million units for the November 1 through December 31 timeframe, outselling its competitors by an average margin of more than 2 to 1. As Sony Computer Entertainment America continues to garner a 55 percent share of the videogame hardware market, these year-end sales bring the cumulative PlayStation installed base to 25 million units in North America. As a result of robust holiday sales, a PlayStation is now in one out of every four U.S. households.

"We have made considerable strides towards achieving our vision for PlayStation by delivering the broadest gaming audience in history and making it a viable entertainment choice enjoyed by millions of consumers around the world," said Kaz Hirai, president and chief operating officer, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "The results of our fifth holiday season drove PlayStation's mass-market penetration to unprecedented levels reaching 25 million homes in North America. Although historic, this is truly just a precursor for how the company will continue to transcend what we know to be computer entertainment with the planned introduction of PlayStation(R)2 later in the year."

Growing software sales also helped PlayStation remain the undisputed entertainment choice during 1999. According to the TRSTS reports from The NPD Group, a leading market research firm that tracks the videogame industry, more PlayStation game titles were sold during the holidays than all other competitive formats combined. PlayStation software met the unparalleled demand with sales of more than 15.1 million games in December 1999, more than double that of Nintendo(R) 64, and more than 10 times that of Sega Dreamcast(TM).

While Sony Computer Entertainment America's Gran Turismo(TM) 2 enjoyed the top spot as the best-selling videogame in December, other top-selling PlayStation titles for the month included CTR (Crash Team Racing)(TM), Driver(TM) from GT Interactive, NBA Live(R) 2000 from EA Sports, Resident Evil(TM) 3 Nemesis from Capcom, Spyro (2): Ripto's Rage!(TM), Tomorrow Never Dies 007(TM) from Electronic Arts and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater(TM) from Activision.

The December TRSTS reports demonstrated that PlayStation controlled 64.4 percent of the lucrative software market for December, and accounted for 63.9 percent of all life-to-date game sales. In addition, PlayStation continues to exceed industry expectations with an impressive software-to-hardware tie ratio of more than 7.5 to 1.

"When planning for 1999, we underestimated the momentum that the marketplace has generated surrounding PlayStation," said Jack Tretton, vice president, sales, Sony Computer Entertainment America. "Through the continued growth of the PlayStation category, our retail partners reported to us that 1999 was a record year for videogame sales. For 31 months straight, PlayStation has been the sales leader in every category in which it competes. Sony Computer Entertainment America has maintained that success by providing both the PlayStation enthusiast and new consumers with a wealth of entertainment choices at affordable prices."

While the company enjoys a strong lead in North American sales, its performance in other regions makes PlayStation the undisputed worldwide leader in next-generation videogame consoles. On December 3, 1999, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. announced that more than 70 million units had been shipped worldwide, more than any other competing videogame system.

Sony Computer Entertainment America, a division of Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc., markets the PlayStation game console for distribution in North America, develops and publishes software for the PlayStation game console, and manages the U.S. third party licensing program. Based in Foster City, Calif., Sony Computer Entertainment America Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.

Visit us on the Web at http://www.playstation.com