Apparently Sony’s PSP and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 are the most returned consoles in the UK this year. The PSP takes the unwelcome crown of being the most returned “tech gadget” with 6.2% returned. It’s not great reading for Sony has they feature three times in the top 10 but they will be pleased that the PS3 doesn’t.
Nintendo will be the happiest of all as neither the Wii nor DS feature. The figures are based on purchase return statistics from My Voucher Codes who have also carried out a little research on why items are being returned.
It’s no surprise to see cost being a major factor. Of the 1,833 people surveyed over 40% returned their items after weighing up “whether or not they can actually afford to keep it”. 34% said they returned the item as they experienced “disappointment” with the device. With the price of the PSP being cheaper than most of the rest of the top 10 it would seem that disappointment is probably the main reason for PSP returns. The PSP2 just can’t come quickly enough.
Without a breakdown of which Xbox 360 consoles are being returned it’s hard to tell whether price is an issue for the console. One statistic Microsoft may want to take note of, with the impending release of Kinect, is that 17% purchased items as “they were often influenced to buy products based on hype.”
Though that will be music to Microsoft’s ears they won’t like hearing that 82% of those purchasers had also returned items in the last year where only 62% of all the people surveyed had done so. 1,833 may only be a small number when compared to the millions of consoles and gadets sold in the UK but it does provide a little insight.
The full top 10 is below.
1. Sony PSP – 6.2%
2. Kindle – 5.7%
3. Apple iPad – 4.9%
4. Microsoft Xbox 360 – 4.8%
5. HTC Desire phone – 4.6%
6. iPhone 4 – 4.5%
7. Sony Reader eBook – 4.2%
8. TomTom satnavs – 4.1%
9. Motorola Bluetooth headsets – 4%
10. Sony netbooks – 4%
dextreme08
not surprised about the oap. when I received mine I was absolutely disgusted that it didn’t come with a memory stick. I couldn’t save any games so I had to start from the beginning every time, couldn’t remote play because it couldn’t save the sync details, couldn’t buy any games from the store and couldnt even view TSA!
then to see the cost of memory sticks I can see why people gave up. surely it wouldn’t hurt Sony to give away a small memory stick or add some internal memory!
dextreme08
Haha that has got to be the best auto correct ever. now I’m just going to return my oap to the home…
jimmy-google
My PSP came with a 32MB memory stick at launch but I only use that PSP for my satnav now though I have maxed out the hard drive in my PSPGo and the 8GB card I bought for it.
foeroyingur
“add some internal memory” PSP go?
jayjay119
Does this list consist of return for refunds onluy or trade ins also? Considering, it’s not limited to the gaming market i’ll take it as refunds onl. But still its true, I’m currently on my 3rd PSP. Traded in my first to get the Slim then traded that in because I didn’t play on it, then bought a 300 a few months ago which by the way is being happily used. I also went trough 3 360’s in it’s early days of release due to 1 disk tray cockup (on the firs console I had) and then 2 RRODs.
Charmed_Fanatic
6.2% for the highest is still quite low figure
spurs78
HTC desire returned, are people mad???
Mick939
Absoloute twaddle the 360 will still be high but is now much better, and the ds (in my particular shop, untill i moved on) we were having at LEAST two of them a day, as was every other of our 75 stores.
RadicalMave07
the list seems pretty accurate to me,psp is losing its fan base because people really want something new and exciting,the xbox is no surprise for me either,i recently got one and was very dissapointed,the stories you hear are usually over exaggerated,the only reason i have not brought it back is because i got it as a gift,and because i really wanted to see the hype around gears of war and halo and whether they really are as good as everyone says.
mcphatty
The PSP will be a classic in years to come! A classic what is the question haha. I still love mine though.
Quinlank
Yeah, I’ve returned both of those things in my time, so I can believe it.