Looking at the numbers the NPD Group posted for November 2008, Sony executives must have had an ugly feeling. The PlayStation 3, the home console that competes with the Xbox 360 from Microsoft and the Nintendo Wii, sold 378,000 units, which is less than half the sales of the Redmond giant’s console.

Sony points out that, over October 2008, the PS3 figures are actually double, but the fact is that the console couldn’t keep up with the speed Microsoft managed to sell its gaming devices, helped by a price cut and a new interface. Over the last year, PS3 sales increased by 60%. Sony says its product will not get a price cut and is rushing to release Home, the social space that has been delayed for quite some time now.

Overall, the PlayStation brand brought in 663 million dollars in revenue, which is an increase of 11% over the last year, while software revenue went up by 16%, fueled mostly by third party titles like Call of Duty: World at War, Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe and Madden NFL 09. As Killzone 2 launches in February, Sony could see a rebound of its console.

As the economic crisis deepens, Sony has been recently forced to announce staff layoffs and the official line is that the company is betting that the superior value represented by the PlayStation 3 and its Blu-ray player will help it regain sales.

Ian Jackson, who is a sales vice president at Sony Computer Entertainment of America, stated that “Throughout the year, PS3 and the PlayStation brand have demonstrated consistent growth and we remain confident in meeting our fiscal targets. We have continued to deliver blockbuster software titles and ground-breaking services – including an unmatched holiday software line-up and today’s launch of the PlayStation Home Beta service – and we expect continued momentum throughout the holiday season”.