PlayStation 3 sales nearly triple over Thanksgiving

The PlayStation 3 console may be lagging behind rivals Wii and Xbox 360 in terms of sales, but things could finally be turning around for Sony. Following the introduction of the 40GB PlayStation 3, which effectively dropped the price of the console by $100 down to $399, sales of the console more than doubled during the Thanksgiving week.

Though the exact numbers weren’t revealed, Sony spokeswoman Kimberly Otzman confirmed a 245 percent increase in the number of PS3 units sold in the week November 18 to 24 compared to the previous week.

While the Wii is still the unquestionable leading seller, its inability to keep up with demand has left the door open for Sony to pick up any sales Nintendo misses out. Compared with $249 for a Wii and $280 for the least-expensive Xbox 360, the PS3 is still the most expensive console out there. But the drop in price, from $599 to $499 to $399 has led some customers to finally see the PS3 as a viable alternative, plus the embedded Blu-ray player further adds to the worth of the console.