Ever since Sony announced their plans to layoff 5% of their workforce by the second quarter of 2010, there has been rumor, speculation and prognostication about which areas of the electronics giant would be most affected by the downsizing. Gamers, of course, fear that the underperforming PlayStation 3 division could be facing a significant portion of the axe, especially since after two years into its lifecycle, the console has yet to turn a profit. However, if Sony executives are to be believed, the rumors of the PS3's demise have been greatly exaggerated.

In an interview with cnet, Ian Jackson, VP of sales for Sony Computer Entertainment America, stated that the PS3 saw a sales increase of 130% for the holiday (post Black Friday) season of 2008 versus 2007. He further claimed that PS3 sales were up 40% for the entire year of 2008, which seems to contradict most of the previously released sales data. As Alexander Sliwinski over at Joystiq points out, Jackson does not clarify whether or not these sales numbers only account for US sales or if they include the whole world.

If these figures prove true, it marks a huge turn-around for the fortunes of the only Blu-ray enabled console of this current generation. NPD figures for December should be released in a few weeks, so we'll wait to see what the official word is.

[Source]

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