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PS3 Outsells Wii in Japan

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Sony’s PlayStation 3 may still be playing catch-up to the Nintendo Wii in the United States where a recent price job resulted in a sudden boost of sales, but in Japan the shift has already happened. The PlayStation 3 outsold the Wii by a significant margin in November.

According to an industry survey cited in the Wall Street Journal, Sony seized the lead quite decisively in the four-week period ending Nov. 25. While the Wii still managed to sell an impressive 159,193 units, the PlayStation 3 outsold it by 15 percent with 183,217 units.

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The sudden jump in sales was preceded by price cuts on the machine. In October, Sony cut the prices of existing PS3s to ¥44,980 and ¥54,980 for the 20GB and 60GB versions, respectively. On Nov. 11, Sony introduced its new, cheaper 40B PS3 in Japan for ¥39,980.

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