Press release: 1996-12-03: Sega Saturn sales jump 500 percent with "Three Pack" promotion

This is an unaltered copy of a press release, for use as a primary source on Sega Retro. Please do not edit the contents below. Language: English Original source: Sega.com (archived)

 SEGA SATURN SALES JUMP 500 PERCENT WITH "THREE PACK" PROMOTION

--Sega Saturn Unit Sales Tie, Exceed Competition--

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., December 3, 1996 -- Sega® of America today announced that sales of its 32-bit Sega SaturnTM videogame system increased 500 percent Thanksgiving weekend due to the "Three Pack" holiday promotion offering three free arcade hits with a Sega Saturn purchase. Sega Saturn game sales also jumped 400 percent, which was two times higher than the industry increase in software sales overall last weekend.

"Sega Saturn sales equaled or beat the competition nationwide at most of our top retail accounts," said Ted Hoff, executive vice president, Sega of America. "The combination of exclusive arcade hits and great consumer value with the 'Three Pack' promotion is unbeatable. After all, that's exactly what our consumers demand -- and Sega is delivering."

To date, sales of Sega Saturn have surpassed 1 million units in North America. Sega is confident it will meet its goal of selling 1.5 million units by the end of December 1996.

Since the promotion began on November 18, retail reorders of Sega Saturn hardware have topped 400,000 units. In anticipation of this, Sega has increased production to meet the holiday demand.

"We're seeing great short term results from the 'Three Pack' promotion and believe it will have a big impact on our Sega Saturn software sales in the future," said Jeff Griffiths, senior vice president, Electronics Boutique. "It has boosted customer traffic for Sega products and generated tremendous interest in Sega's holiday line-up and games to come in 1997."

Sega launched the "Three Pack" promotion as part of its $60 million holiday marketing campaign, which also includes national TV, radio and print advertising, expanded in-store merchandising and three times the number of playable systems in stores compared to last year. Under the promotion, Sega Saturn customers receive three of Sega's best selling arcade-to-home games -- "Virtua FighterTM 2", "Daytona USATM" and "Virtua CopTM" -- plus coupons for up to $15 off any two of the more than 200 Sega Saturn games available.

The promotion runs through December 31, 1996, and is available at all 20,000 retail store fronts carrying Sega Saturn products nationwide.

Sega of America is the arm of Tokyo, Japan-based Sega Enterprises Ltd. responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of Sega videogame systems and videogames in the Americas. Sega Enterprises Ltd. is a nearly $3.6 billion company recognized as the industry leader in interactive digital entertainment media, and is the only company that offers interactive entertainment experiences both inside and outside the home. Sega of America's World Wide Web site is located at (http://www.sega.com).
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