Nintendo blitzes US hardware sales
Wii and DS sell almost 1.3 million units combined in October
Nintendo has trampled its competition with respect to hardware sales in the US for October, according to the latest data from NPD.
The Wii was the most popular platform by some distance, selling 803,000 units while the DS was a comfortable second on 491,000 - giving Nintendo a combined sales total of almost 1.3 million hardware units sold.
The Xbox 360 was third on 371,000, followed by the PlayStation Portable in fourth and PlayStation 3 in fifth on 193,000 and 190,000 units respectively. The PlayStation 2 was last, selling 136,000 consoles.
But despite brisk sales of the Nintendo platforms, hardware revenues in the US grew by just 5 per cent to USD 494.74 million, while the sales of accessories fell by 8 per cent to USD 120.19 million.
But NPD analyst Anita Frazier pointed out that the way the weeks fell in the calendar wasn't kind to October: "Keeping in mind that September was a five-week month while October had four, the sales pace increased 33 per cent," she said.
"The greater supply of Wii hardware at retail is evident in the sales figures for the month with the Wii enjoying its best sales month outside of last November and December.
"The price reduction on the Xbox 360 is paying dividends at retail as the platform realised a 7 per cent unit sales increase over September."
The hardware sales breakdown is as follows:
- 1. Nintendo Wii: 803,000
- 2. Nintendo DS: 491,000
- 3. Xbox 360: 370,000
- 4. PlayStation Portable: 193,000
- 5. PlayStation 3: 190,000
- 6. PlayStation 2: 136,000