Following a record breaking launch, the PS3 has seen a massive drop-off in sales. Chart Track figures reveal that sales dropped 82% in its second week in the UK.

SPOnG did the maths. Using the figure of 165,000 sold over launch weekend, which is the PS3's first week of sale as far as Chart Track is concerned, an 82% drop produces a figure of 29,700 PS3s sold in the console's second week.

Many Sony naysayers have been quick to herald this sales drop-off as a serious blow to the PS3, drawing a line to the platform's software sales drop. The context for these figures should be remembered, however. Or, more accurately, the lack of context.

Most hardware manufacturers don't find themselves in the unfortunate position of having their weekly sales figures published beyond their console's first week. No figures are available for the 360 or Wii in their second weeks for comparison. If there were, however, the Microsoft and Nintendo consoles would likely have had something in the region of a 99% decline in sales due to severe under-supply leaving shelves empty.

The fact is, we don't really know how an available home console should (or can) perform in its second week because, typically, there aren't any available to sell.

SPOnG contacted SCEE to see what their reaction was, but unsurprisingly received a “no comment”.