Update 2: According to iTWire, Microsoft has denied the Smarthouse article, which claimed that the Xbox 360 was "dead" in Australia. Mariana Cidade, PR Manager of the entertainment and devices division for Microsoft Australia, noted that over 2 million pieces of Xbox 360 software have been sold in Australia and New Zealand, which is "nearly double [the Xbox 360's] next-gen competitors combined." Also noted was the Xbox 360's attach rate of 7 games per console in Australia, hardly the kind of sales garnered by a dead console. The data comes from GFK, a market research firm, and puts something of a damper on Smarthouse's already dubious (and anonymous) claims. Find our original post after the break.
Update: Added a link to the original Smarthouse article.
According to a recent news channel survey of 10 different Australian video games retailers (with over 2000 stores spread across the continent): "The Xbox 360 is dead. We are stocking it because of our relationship with Microsoft ..." If that's not a big statement to you, just wait, we've got more. The same retailer claims that the other two consoles are succeeding due to the appeal to children/women, and Blu-ray, respectively. They think the 360 brand can't really be redeemed after the RROD, and that the value proposition offered by Microsoft did not seem equal in comparison to the competition.
Furthermore, the Australian retailers are considering dropping the console from stores entirely: "We are stocking it because of our relationship with Microsoft, however all our energy and marketing is going into the PS3 and the Nintendo Wii unless Microsoft come up with something new or additional marketing dollars,." "Halo 3 was big on the Xbox but that was about it." "They have tried discounting and value add offers and even that is not working. We are even thinking of dumping the console all together."
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
4-07-2008 @ 3:50AM
Jake said...
360 is also dead in Europe, sales are dire, and have been for some time. Retailers are no longer pushing the 360 to customers looking for consoles.
You can thank the RROD fiasco for that. There is no faith left in the Xbox brand.
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4-07-2008 @ 6:07AM
SadisticHam said...
No it isn't? o.0
4-07-2008 @ 4:11AM
sacaranda said...
I AM AUSTRALIAN!
And this simply isnt true at all. I own both 360 and PS3 (just for the bluray player) and the majority of stores devote more shelf space to the 360. not to mention catalogue space. you only have to take a stroll down any aussie shopping centre to see what I mean.
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4-07-2008 @ 4:36AM
COD4Grl said...
Surprising - here in Australia the x360 seems to be the most popular in the stores....most retailers say that the PS3 is not shifting units at all here.
Maybe if these stores charged less than $110 per game in Australia (that's the usual price), they may get more customers!!!
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4-07-2008 @ 4:39AM
Dirk Dorkelson said...
So this may very well be true, but what are the sources backing it up? Anonymous retailers? Come on. Give me more than that, and I'll believe you. GameRush even edited its post saying it should be classified as rumor. The SmartHouse article doesn't even include any sales figures to back up their survey's assertion. Come on, guys, this is weak.
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4-07-2008 @ 4:51AM
Mythor said...
Another Aussie chiming in to say that that article is full of shit. There's still plenty of ads being run in all the catalogs, particularly the new Arcade bundle - why would anyone pick that up if it was "dead"?
All my friends who don't already have one would prefer a 360 over a PS3 due to the price difference and how many good games there are on the 360 vs PS3.
The Wii, of course, is caning the 360. But isn't that the case everywhere? Cheaper and the novelty value is hard to go past. And as soon as we get Smash Bros and Mario Kart, it'll probably do even better.
But the 360 dead here? What a crock. I don't buy it at all.
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4-07-2008 @ 5:15AM
ericdrum said...
This is a bad news story. Here's real news: http://www.sonydefenseforce.com/?p=363
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4-07-2008 @ 5:26AM
kfresh97 said...
I guess it's unnessecary for me to pipe in on the topic as well, but why the hell not? I too am Australian, and also a store manager at a "major" retailer.
I too, can vouch for this article's bullshiticity. The 360 is selling WELL above the PS3 in gaming's target demographic (17-25 yo males). The Wii is obviously selling truckloads to the younger family demographic, but that's not the point. There is just no chance that ANY Australia retailers will drop a platform that's making them more money in software sales than it's competitor makes in hardware sales.
Also, who the hell are these people? I've certainly never heard of "Smarthouse" or "ChannelNews". Not only is the first page covered in flat-out lies, the second page decends into fantasy with the "new model Xbox" and BR-360 crap from an "unnamed European distributor", and that's BEFORE the atroious spelling and grammatical work that makes me think the article was written by a quadrupledgic moose.
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4-07-2008 @ 5:56AM
GalileoAce said...
Smarthouse and the owner of the parent company, and the article's author David Richards, hold very little credibility in the Australian journalism circles.
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s2178689.htm
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4-07-2008 @ 7:55AM
Shinobi Burger said...
I was just about to post that article.
Smarthouse and David Richards have almost no credibility.
4-07-2008 @ 7:30AM
Shogan said...
It sounds to me like Australians don't like purchasing hardware that's almost guaranteed to fail. I have a 360, I love it to death, but the RRoD is something that's always in the back of my mind. The games and the online experience on the 360 make it tolerable, but I can see how some people may not feel the same.
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4-07-2008 @ 8:38AM
Michael Paul said...
"Almost guaranteed to fail"? Like the Blu-Ray market once everyone switches to downloads?
Oh, wait, that might not happen, like a given 360 might not fail. All we know for sure is misinformation is available in unlimited supply lately...
4-07-2008 @ 8:43AM
Shogan said...
I don't know man. I'm not trashing the 360 here, but I'm not a fanboy either. Of all the people we know personally who own a 360 (that would be 7 people total) every one of them has sent the 360 in for the RRoD at least once. Ours has yet to fail, and like I said.. we love it.
The irony (or whatever) is that the Wii is the first console I've ever had to send in for repairs (and I got a 2600 near it's launch as a kid).
4-07-2008 @ 3:20PM
BowserUSC said...
I've never had to send it for RRoD and I've had my console since launch, November 05. I've also thrown it in my checked baggage while flying a bunch of times. Once I got the RRoD playing crackdown but I just turned off the console, let it sit for a while and it was fine after that.
Honestly, you should see how beat up it is, the corners are all damaged from knocking into things, I've dropped it so many times. One whole side has a huge crack in it because I put too much weight on it once and it just split in half. I don't know how it's lasted so long without a single failure, but it's alive and kicking still.
4-07-2008 @ 8:43AM
haliotis81 said...
I think XBOX 360 is greater improved console compared with the PS3. What is new console like PS3 without backward compatibility cause so many of us still have PS2 games to play. And the only reason why PS3 is still alive is Metal Gear Solid 4. This is the only reason to buy PS3 for me but I am not wasting money. I have been a Sony PS fan for many years and I am disappointed. Now there are selling two video console to keep alive, PS2 and PS3. If PS3 is so great, dun sell PS2. Back to this Xbox 360 issue, if they claims that Xbox 360 is dead in Australia, then dun sell it. Just put Wii and PS3 in stores and make less money than other countries which sell all three consoles. Australia people should have more choices of consoles to choose. To limit to two is just too stupid thing to do. Come on, it is a free world now, Australia. Stupid retailers in Australia!!!!!!!
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4-07-2008 @ 8:44AM
toonces said...
Good! I hope its dead in kangaroo country. I'm tired of playing online w/ those laggin Paul Hogan wannabe's
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4-07-2008 @ 9:14AM
DeadPixel said...
i wonder if they could remind me which console has halo 3?
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4-07-2008 @ 9:54AM
Swamp Donkey said...
Maybe the retailers in Australia simply want to sell consoles they can recommend and stand behind. It isn't the best customer relations to sell people expensive hardware that is guaranteed to break. Not sure what the warranty and repair policies are for Australia, but judging by the amount of hassles Americans have to go through, I can only assume it is worse for the rest of the world. They'd be crazy to buy a 360. Maybe we are too.
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4-07-2008 @ 10:06AM
Loban said...
Well, this tells you something. It's not that the 360 is dead. It's that the standard console as we know it is dead. Non-gamers are buying the Wii, and everyone is buying the PS3 for blu-ray, not for games. So I don't think it's really the 360's fault, it's just that consoles as we used to know them are going the way of the dinosaurs.
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4-07-2008 @ 10:07AM
Phylicus said...
Meh, it's Australia. No, seriously ... it's Australia.
Outside of Paul Hogan, nothing good has ever come from Australia.
It started out as a penal colony, I mean, c'mon!
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