PS3, Xbox 360 Sales Up in January, But Overall Hardware Down 21 Percent
PS3 and Xbox 360 hardware sales increased in January from the same month a year ago, but that growth wasn’t enough to offset declines on every other hardware system, and Nintendo’s DS and Wii remained the best-selling systems, according to NPD sales data. Overall hardware sales tumbled 21 percent from January 2009 to $353.7 million, NPD said. Not surprisingly, sales of every system fell from December 2009, the height of the holiday season.
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PS3 sales increased to about 276,900 units in January from about 203,200 in January 2009, but were down from the 1.36 million sold in December 2009. Its U.S. installed base grew to about 11.47 million.
While there continued to be strong demand for the PS3, Sony’s PSP continued to struggle, especially its new download-only PSP Go handheld system, and PS2 sales continued to see a significant decline. About 100,100 PSPs were sold in January, down from about 172,300 in January 2009 and about 654,700 in December 2009. Its U.S. installed base grew to about 16.85 million, still far behind the rival DS. NPD and Sony Computer Entertainment America don’t break out how many PSP Gos are sold each month. But an industry source who receives a fuller amount of sales data from NPD told Consumer Electronics Daily Friday that of the 100,100 PSPs sold in January, only about 18,000 were the PSP Go. PS2 sales fell to about 41,600 units from about 101,200 in January 2009 and about 333,200 in December 2009. Its U.S. installed base increased to about 45.85 million units. The PS2 decline will only continue as the PS3’s price comes down further.
Xbox 360 sales increased to about 332,800 units in January from about 309,000 in January 2009, but were down from the 1.31 million sold in December 2009. Its U.S. installed base grew to about 18.88 million. Microsoft said slightly more 360s were sold in January than NPD’s data showed, coming in at more than 333,000 units.
The month’s best-selling system was again the Wii, which moved about 465,800 units, down from about 679,200 in January 2009 and 3.81 million in December 2009. Its U.S. installed base grew to about 27.67 million, keeping it far ahead of the PS3 and 360 in the current console cycle.
The DS was again No. 2, moving about 422,200 units, down from about 510,800 in January 2009 and 3.31 million in December 2009. Its U.S. installed base grew to about 39.29 million. Nintendo of America and NPD didn’t say how many of the DS units sold were the newer DSi, but our source told us more than 50 percent of the units sold in the month were the DSi, at about 250,000 units.
After the overall U.S. game industry sales increase seen in December (CED Jan 19 p8), the industry returned in January to the declines seen in much of 2009. Total U.S. videogame industry sales fell 13 percent to $1.17 billion, NPD said. Software sales fell 12 percent to $597.9 million. The only category that increased in sales was accessories, up 2 percent to $217 million. January sales “might have been a little bit stronger had there been more product availability” on the PS3 and Wii, said Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences President Joseph Olin.
Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii was again the best-selling videogame, although sales tumbled to about 656,700 copies from 2.82 million a month earlier. In its first month available, Mass Effect 2 for the 360 was the No. 2 SKU, moving about 572,100 copies. Nintendo had three other games in the top 10: Wii Fit Plus at No. 3 with about 555,700 sold, Mario Kart Wii at No. 5 with about 310,900 sold, and Wii Sports Resort at No. 6 with about 297,600 sold.