PS3 losing UK race vs Xbox 360

Slow and steady wins the race, right? Sony hopes so, as the PS3 continues to struggle in the UK.

According to UK retailer Game, Nintendo's Wii remains number one in terms of console sales with 4.9 million units sold. The Xbox 360 is a strong second, having moved 3.2 million units, while Sony continues to pull up the rear with 1.9 million PS3's sold in the UK since it's release a little more than two years ago.

Those numbers absolutely pale in comparison with those of Nintendo's DS. The big "N" continues to print money with the touch screen sensation, having sold a staggering 8.8 million units.

The PS2 is still alive and kicking in the UK as well, having just passed the 10 million mark in the UK.

These numbers lend credence to Microsoft's declarations earlier this week that they intend to once again turn their strategic focus to Europe, following up on an earlier UK push back in 2007. Microsoft this week declared victory over the PS3 in the U.S. and said it was time to focus resources and regionally targeted marketing strategies in an effort to essentially end the battle for the UK market.

Losses from Sony's Game's Division Double

Sony has announced its financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2007, showing an overall revenue growth year-on-year of 12.3 per cent. That's the good news, the bad news is losses from their game's division doubled to $841 Mil USD.

Sony attributed the loss primarily to pricing the PS3 at less than the price of manufacturing it. Losses on hardware are nothing new to console manufacturers who reap the huge bulk of their profits from software sales. However, considering the slow pace of sales of PS3 consoles combined with low software attach rates, the immediate future looks pretty bleak for Sony's bottom line, at least from their games division.

Don't worry too much for Papa Sony though, he won't be dipping into the kids college fund anytime soon; the company as a whole reported a profit of $787 Mil USD during the quarter.