Atari 8-Bit Units Sold

{From a defunct Atari board}

Steve Mynott on Atariage asked if there was a scarcity of 130XEs in the UK. The question got me wondering about total UK sales.
There doesn't seem to be any definite sales figures for specific regions - only Worldwide totals.

However, based on some known figures (see blue text and links) we can get fairly close with reasonable estimates
I've included the entire Atari range for simplicty - a copy of my reply is posted @ Atariage

UK Total 8-bit sales
link
cites a total 8-bit range UK sale of 350,000.

800XL - total worldwide sales = 500,000
link


Total Worldwide Sales by Range
link

Unfortunately, there is very little information about the sales of Atari products:
However, on the basis of UK total sales being 21% of total 8-bit worldwide sales (XL/XE slightly more as 400/800 and 1200XL scarce in UK) the third column are (my) best estimates. Please bear in mind these allow for UK availability.

Model.........Worldwide:..........UK estimates

VCS 2600......25,000,000..........4,000,000
VCS 5200......1,000,000...........non-UK
VCS 7800......not known
Lynx..........not known
Jaguar........225,000.............50,000
400/800.......800,000*............100,000
1200XL........105,000.............NIL
800XL.........500,000.............200,000
65/130/800XE..250,000.............50,000
ST............1,000,000...........200,000
Falcon030.....14,000..............3,000
ST Book.......1,000* **

* = Estimates, precise numbers not known
** = one of the rarest Laptops

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I have done lot's of research into sales figures and here is what I know:

Atari 2600 - Total worldwide sales of 30 million
Atari 7800 - North American is 3.77 million. Rest of world unknown but estimated to be around 1.5 million.
Atari Lynx - Worldwide sales of around 3 million. UK Sales were 1 million.
Atari 8-bit - Total worldwide sales were 4 million.
Atari ST - Total worldwide sales of 6 million. UK sales were 1.5 million.
.
.
.
The 2600 and 7800 figures are in the Atari book and are the official numbers.
Atari Lynx figures were confirmed by several sources. Both UK and France figures were printed in the press and ex-Atari Marketing Manager Darryl Still confirmed the figures were correct some time ago in an interview I did with him.
The Atari 8-bit and Atari ST figures came from a document on total hardware sales for all companies (will have to find the exact source again) but have been quoted multiple times in various other places such as the Old Computers website (great source that) and Retro Gamer magazine.

--The Laird

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Well, on this issue, just stepping back and looking at the big picture, I would have to think that Laird's numbers have to be the more reasonable. There's no way Atari, under one continuous ownership, could have survived 20 years between the release of the 2600 and it's demise when it became JTS in the reverse merger. Subsequently, Atari Corp. couldn't have survived for a dozen years with Brenski's estimates.Assuming Knowing much of the totals, especially the 2600, were sales under Warner Communication's Atari Inc. Atari Corp would have to have been struggling company the entire time (as we know it was) even with Laird's numbers. Knowing how big and rich Atari Inc. was a year before the video game crash, compared to Atari Corp. afterward, is also a tell-tale sign of when the most sales income happened, to extract Atari Corp's sales. The 2600 made Atari Inc. rich, every product beyond it is "rare" when compared to the big boys like Apple, IBM, even Commodore. And the Laird's numbers reflect a struggling company, Brenki's represent a company with a much shorter life span, IMHO. What were total sales for computer and console companies that Atari out-lasted? What UK and US computers sold less than Atari and how long was the lifespan? What were they're numbers? This info would help to put Atari's numbers into perspective.

The one number that is the largest in sales on both of your estimates is the 2600. 25 million vs 30 million, in either case, when did most of those sales take place? Was it under Atari Inc. and the 2600 or Atari Corp. and the 2600jr? There's also a huge price difference in the 2600 VCS vs. 2600jr. Was it really on the back of the 2600jr that Atari Corp. survived? Was 20 years of Atari's existance all due to the 2600? Is the 2600 the benefactor of all other Atari products?
Last Edit: Mar 31, 2016 at 11:00am by Baker