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NPD: Wii regains hardware top spot following US price cut

PS3 sales faltered, though continued to outsell 360 in a month of overall decline

The Wii has recalimed its spot at the top of the US game hardware sales charts in what was overall a 19 per cent industry revenue decline from the same period last year, according to results released today by the NPD Group,

Nintendo's home console sold a total of 506,900 units in the NPD's four week October tracking period following a late September price cut, up from 462,800 sold in September's five week chart.

Sony's PlayStation 3, which sold the most of all home consoles in September at 491,800, dropped to 320,600 in October. Despite the sharp decline in monthly sales, the PS3 still managed to outsell its main competitor, Microsoft's Xbox 360, which sold 249,700 units.

"Compared to last month, which was a five-week month as compared to four weeks this month, Wii, PSP and NDS sales increased on an average sales per week basis, while the PS3 and Xbox 360 declined," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

According to NPD analysis, year-to-date unit sales for January through October are down ten per cent over the same period in 2008, with only the Xbox 360 and Nintendo DS seeing an increase.

"Recent price cuts helped spur a one to two-month increase in unit sales, and this month's Wii sales reflect that boost, but the other platforms have not sustained the sales momentum post price reduction," said Frazier.

"It will be difficult to discern the impact of the price cut into November and December just because those are always the two best months for the industry anyway, and we'd expect to see a sizeable lift in hardware unit sales as a result of seasonality."

Slumping hardware sales had the biggest impact on the game industry's overall 19 per cent revenue decline from October 2008. Revenue generated specifically from hardware sales was reported at USD 380.74 million, down 23 per cent from USD 496.96 million the previous year.

The full hardware sales chart follows.

  • Nintendo Wii - 506,900
  • Nintendo DS - 457,600
  • PlayStation 3 - 320,600
  • Xbox 360 - 249,700
  • PlayStation Portable - 174,600
  • PlayStation 2 - 117,800