In hardware sales, the Xbox 360 inched past the PlayStation by 10,000 units, according to sales predictions by market analyst NPD Group, while Wii hardware sales plummeted by 102,000 units from July's figures. August sales were down in general -- the first single-digit percentage growth in 27 months, according to NPD's Anita Frazier -- though sales were up over the same period last year by 9 percent.
"Despite smaller growth this month, the industry is up 32% year-to-date and remains on target to achieve annual revenues in the range of $22 to $24 billion," said Frazier. And while the Wii was down from 555,000 unit sales in July to just 453,000 in August, Frazier says that "across hardware, software and accessories, products for the Wii platform contributed 28% of total industry dollar sales for the month of August."
August Hardware
518k - Nintendo DS
453k - Nintendo Wii
253k - PlayStation Portable
195k - Xbox 360
185k - PlayStation 3
144k - PlayStation 2
- "The PSP and PS3 had the greatest percentage gain of all now-gen systems," said Frazier, adding that sales acceleration combined with the recent Xbox 360's price cuts should keep this category growing as sales roll forward.
- According to Sony, more than 2 million PS3s have been sold in the U.S. since January 2008, representing a year-to-date hardware sales growth of over 92 percent.
- Microsoft says U.S. consumers have life-to-date spent $10.7 billion on Xbox 360 hardware and software, culminating in a U.S. install base of 10.9 million units.
- Why is Nintendo down so sharply over July? Hard to say. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter was predicting sales of 555,000 for August, and he qualified that by suggesting Wii supplies were flat for the month (that is, Wii sales could have been even higher). According to Dan DeMatteo (speaking to GameDaily) Nintendo may have ramped up production 20 percent recently, but as he puts it, supplies are "still evaporating."
August Software
1m - Madden NFL 09 (360)
643k - Madden NFL 09 (PS3)
425k - Madden NFL 09 (PS2)
395k - Wii Fit (Wii)
329k - Wii Mario Kart (Wii)
200k - Wii Play (Wii)
174k - Soul Calibur IV (360)
168k - Too Human (360)
116k - Madden NFL 09 (Wii)
111k - Guitar Hero: On Tour (DS)
- Does Xbox 360 "own sports" as Microsoft claims? If you look at the numbers up front, it's hard to argue with a million copies of Madden NFL 09 against the PS3's 643k. But what about Sony as a brand? PS3 + PS2 sales = 1,068,000. And while it didn't chart in the top 10, the PSP version's sales would certainly bolster that number. Of course Microsoft can counter by pointing out it sold 56,000 copies of Tiger Woods PGA Tour 09 in the five days it was on the market, "more than on any other platform." They're also quick to point out they've sold more copies of NCAA Football 09 since it launched than the PS3 and Wii versions combined.
- Sony has a higher attach rate with Madden NFL 09 -- Sony claims it's as much as 33% higher than the Xbox 360.
- It's telling that Madden NFL 09 for the Wii sold so poorly compared to Madden NFL 09 for the 360, PS3, and PS2. The Wii's U.S. install base is over 14 million, compared with the Xbox 360's (around 12 million) and PS3's (about 7 million).
Now this doesn't have anything to do with August's sales data, but it's worth adding that Microsoft is claiming its console sales were up 100% between Friday September 5th and Sunday September 7th, attributing this to the September 3rd price drop announcement. The 360 Arcade has shown the biggest lift, says Microsoft, selling at six times the rate it was the previous weekend.
Should make September's numbers very interesting.
