Mark Androvich
15:35 (BST)
18/03/2008
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GameStop projects 575-600 new stores in 2008
Sales tied to gaming cycle, not economic cycle says analyst
GameStop, which saw record sales in 2007, plans to open an additional 575 - 600 new stores in 2008.
The retailer currently operates 5,264 locations in 16 countries and opened 586 stores last year.
It reported that Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Rock Band, Assassin's Creed, Super Mario Galaxy and Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock led sales in 2007, which rose 38 per cent.
Despite shortages of the Xbox 360 in January - and continued Nintendo Wii supply constraints - GameStop reported that hardware sales increased 19 per cent.
GameStop reported Q4 net income of USD 189.8 million - up 46 per cent from the prior year.
NPD Group recently released data for the month of February showing software sales of USD 668.7 million - a 47 per cent increase from the prior year.
"These numbers support our thesis that videogaming sales are much more tied to the gaming cycle than the economic one," Citibank's Tony Wible told The Wall Street Journal.
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