BKK2 on 17 April 2008
The Nintendo Wii sold an astonishing 721,000 units during the five-week retail period in the US in March, more than doubling hardware sales for competing home consoles, research firm NPD Group reported Thursday.
ImageNPD analyst Anita Frazier said that the Wii captured "the highest single month unit sales of any platform outside the holiday timeframe," thanks to improved supply and the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii, which sold 2.7 million units in the US during the month
Total game industry sales (console hardware, software and accessories) were up 57 percent to $1.7 billion.
"You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the videogames industry sales figures. Year-to-date growth is a rock-solid 27 percent through March 2008," said Frazier.
Analyst Jesse Divnich with research firm EEDAR said Wii hardware sales will likely stay in the 600,000 to 700,000 unit range over the next couple of months as Nintendo supports the big upcoming first-party titles, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii.
DS sales rounded out Nintendo's hardware dominance, as better supply and more promotional activity drove sales to 698,000 units for the month. Frazier expects DS demand to continue to be strong through the summer months.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold 262,000 units, just edging out the PlayStation 3, which sold 257,000 units during the month.
Microsoft said earlier this year that it had been struggling with hardware supply issues, although now supply appears to be back to normal. The PS3 managed to outsell Xbox 360 in January and February this year.
"March has proven that the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii can co-exist perfectly together," said Divnich.
Frazier added, "Across hardware, software, and accessories, the Wii contributed the most to total industry sales, representing 31 percent of total industry dollars for the month."
In addition, Sony's PSP handheld sold 297,000, while the PS2 sold 216,000
Overall hardware sales were $551.3 million, up 46 percent year-on-year.
Software sales nearly doubled those of hardware, as titles such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Army of Two drove sales to $945.6 million, up 63 percent.
Super Smash Bros. was the top-seller, as it sold to 31 percent of the Wii installed base, according to Frazier. Compared to last March, she said that twice as many SKUs achieved sales in excess of 100,000.
Accessory sales were up 58 percent to $220 million, driven by sales of Xbox Live points and subscription cards, along with the PS3 wireless controller.
NPD's top-selling games for March (*Includes bundles, spec eds.)
1. WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL; NINTENDO OF AMERICA; Mar-08--2.7M
2. 360 *TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2; UBISOFT; Mar-08--752.3K
3. 360 ARMY OF TWO; ELECTRONIC ARTS; Mar-08--606.1K
4. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE; NINTENDO OF AMERICA; Feb-07--409.8K
5. PSP GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS; SONY; Mar-08--340.5K
6. PSP CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII; SQUARE ENIX INC; Mar-08--301.6K
7. WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK; ACTIVISION; Oct-07--264.1K
8. 360 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K8; TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE; Mar-08--237.1K
9. 360 *CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE; ACTIVISION; Nov-07--237K
10. PS3 ARMY OF TWO; ELECTRONIC ARTS; Mar-08--224.9K
ImageNPD analyst Anita Frazier said that the Wii captured "the highest single month unit sales of any platform outside the holiday timeframe," thanks to improved supply and the release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for Wii, which sold 2.7 million units in the US during the month
Total game industry sales (console hardware, software and accessories) were up 57 percent to $1.7 billion.
"You'd never know that the U.S. economy was under distress by looking at the videogames industry sales figures. Year-to-date growth is a rock-solid 27 percent through March 2008," said Frazier.
Analyst Jesse Divnich with research firm EEDAR said Wii hardware sales will likely stay in the 600,000 to 700,000 unit range over the next couple of months as Nintendo supports the big upcoming first-party titles, Wii Fit and Mario Kart Wii.
DS sales rounded out Nintendo's hardware dominance, as better supply and more promotional activity drove sales to 698,000 units for the month. Frazier expects DS demand to continue to be strong through the summer months.
Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold 262,000 units, just edging out the PlayStation 3, which sold 257,000 units during the month.
Microsoft said earlier this year that it had been struggling with hardware supply issues, although now supply appears to be back to normal. The PS3 managed to outsell Xbox 360 in January and February this year.
"March has proven that the PS3, Xbox 360 and the Wii can co-exist perfectly together," said Divnich.
Frazier added, "Across hardware, software, and accessories, the Wii contributed the most to total industry sales, representing 31 percent of total industry dollars for the month."
In addition, Sony's PSP handheld sold 297,000, while the PS2 sold 216,000
Overall hardware sales were $551.3 million, up 46 percent year-on-year.
Software sales nearly doubled those of hardware, as titles such as Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Rainbow Six Vegas 2 and Army of Two drove sales to $945.6 million, up 63 percent.
Super Smash Bros. was the top-seller, as it sold to 31 percent of the Wii installed base, according to Frazier. Compared to last March, she said that twice as many SKUs achieved sales in excess of 100,000.
Accessory sales were up 58 percent to $220 million, driven by sales of Xbox Live points and subscription cards, along with the PS3 wireless controller.
NPD's top-selling games for March (*Includes bundles, spec eds.)
1. WII SUPER SMASH BROS: BRAWL; NINTENDO OF AMERICA; Mar-08--2.7M
2. 360 *TOM CLANCY'S RAINBOW SIX: VEGAS 2; UBISOFT; Mar-08--752.3K
3. 360 ARMY OF TWO; ELECTRONIC ARTS; Mar-08--606.1K
4. WII PLAY W/ REMOTE; NINTENDO OF AMERICA; Feb-07--409.8K
5. PSP GOD OF WAR: CHAINS OF OLYMPUS; SONY; Mar-08--340.5K
6. PSP CRISIS CORE: FINAL FANTASY VII; SQUARE ENIX INC; Mar-08--301.6K
7. WII GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK; ACTIVISION; Oct-07--264.1K
8. 360 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL 2K8; TAKE 2 INTERACTIVE; Mar-08--237.1K
9. 360 *CALL OF DUTY 4: MODERN WARFARE; ACTIVISION; Nov-07--237K
10. PS3 ARMY OF TWO; ELECTRONIC ARTS; Mar-08--224.9K
