Back in May, Sony Entertainment's European boss claimed that the PS3 had outsode the Xbox 360 in Europe and was now the number 2 system in that region.  Well today it was brought up by Microsoft's European chief that again Sony is lying about their install numbers.  Now considering these numbers are hard to get to since there is not one group like NPD that does all of Europe, it's hard to prove that Sony's lying to consumers. 

Microsoft is currently boasting selling over 5 million consoles in Europe since launch.  If you compare that to the numbers from game sales tracking site VGChartz.com it seems very close to the Microsoft number.  When you look at the VGChartz.com numbers for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 in Europe alone it does look like the PS3 holds a narrow lead of the Xbox 360 in that region.  The issue again is VGChartz.com only offers data for six regions in Europe and does not include Russia.  When you include other PAL regions the Xbox 360 is clearly beating the PS3. 

Traditionally Sony has done very well in Europe and it has to be a bit of a black eye that the PS3 has not done better in that region.  Last generation Europe bought almost as many PS2 as the US did and no other console made much of a dent on the mainland.  This generation the 360 is doing very well in the UK but the rest of Europe has not been good.  Still it's neck and neck between the PS3 and the 360.  I expect in Europe the Wii will be first, PS3 second and the 360 will finish last.  In the other PAL regions though the 360 has a strong lead on the PS3 and the Wii (don't think the Wii is available in India, Middle East or Affrica).  In Japan the Wii will win and the PS3 will place 2nd and int he US I expect the Wii will win and the 360 will finish 2nd.  The 360 has a six million unit lead in the US over the PS3.  Getting outside by 10 or 20 thousand isn't going to erase that lead.

Source:
kotaku.com - microsoft-say-sony-are-fibbing-360-still-in-lead-in-europe