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NPD Reports November Console Sales
CBackSlash writes "Joystiq has a summary of the NPD console sales numbers for November 2006. The big headline is that the industry overall was up 34 percent to $1.7 billion. But the smaller headlines are probably more interesting for us: PS3 only shipped 197k, while the XBox 360 had 511k, and the Wii had a very respectable 476k. However, all of the new consoles were outsold by the lowly PS2 (664k) and DS Lite(641k)." These are a more detailed set of numbers than those we discussed on Wednesday.
A lot of sales are not tracked by the NPD (like online sales), making this report all but useless.
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That 661k number is for the GBA, not DS. The DS sold 918k.
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Before saying that "The PS3 only shipped 197k" or that "Nintendo only shipped 476k Wii" you have to realize that NPD has never been a perfectly accurate survey of the number of system sales; they produce statistics that are valid and useful as a comparison to other NPD numbers. For years NPD didn't include Walmart's numbers and currently doesn't include online sales and sales from smaller retailers; this likely doesn't change the ratios of the numbers but it means that Sony could have sold 250k and Nintendo could have sold 600k.
While the data is interesting, what is the point? Given that the supplies for both the PS3 and Wii were limited by manufacturing, hence their smaller sales, I would believe that those numbers would be much larger. The only possible inference that can be made from the data is that the 360 is getting out sold by the devices which ultimately cost significantly less than the XBox 360. I would have to think that if Microsfot reduced the price on the 360, their sales would be more comperable to the ps2 and DS lite.
But how about wating three or six months to see how the sales are holidng up? The PS3 and Wii have sold the numbers that were available at launch. The numbers of the other consoles might be interesting, but they can't be compared to these two systems until both are available without lineups or shortages.
Don't get me wrong - I'm really excited to see who will sell the most consoles in this generation, but at this point it's a bit too early to get excited about any particular contestant.
As far as I know, the PS3 and the Wii are basically selling every single unit that comes into the stores.
The XBox 360 numbers actually probably mean something because they aren't constrained by lack of supply.
So, Nintendo shipped more Wii units than Sony could ship PS3s. That's good for Nintendo because you have to strike while the iron is hot - meaning that right now people want to buy PS3s. It is less clear that the demand for PS3 will continue unabated in the future.
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So, Sony says they'll have 200k units in North America for launch. NPD doesn't track all types of retailers or online sales. Their number is 197k.
Somehow the poster decides to say Sony *only* sold 197k as if that had anything at all to do with demand. They essentially sold exactly the number of PS3's they had available.
What is most telling is that demand for next generation systems is high this holiday season. The Wii and PS3, more or less sold out based on the supply they could get.
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* DS: 918k
* PS2: 664k
* Game Boy Advance: 661k
* Xbox 360: 511k
* Wii: 476k
* PSP: 412k
* PS3: 197k
Software Sales (units and sales grossed)
* Gears of War: 1 million -- $61.5 million
* Final Fantasy XII: 896k -- $49 million
* The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 412k -- $20.2 million
* Guitar Hero II: 356k -- $20.2 million
All very interesting, but what I want to know is: Who are these 64 thousand new Wii owners who didn't pick up twilight princess? For Shame.
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So I see that according to the article, almost 500k wii's have sold. I thought Nintendo said that they planned on having 1m shipped by the end of the year. Even if a lot of those wii's have been sold online, there should still be a lot out there right? Does anyone have any tips for finding a wii at a store? The stores in my area are sold out and the two that I asked told me they don't know when they will be getting more. Any advice would be appreciated.
It's not every day that a major video game company tells you not to listen to what it says, but that's just what Nintendo did today. Yesterday, the company issued a press release trumpeting NPD sales figures that showed healthy Wii and DS sales. The release also promised "well more than a million" Wii systems would be on U.S. store shelves by the end of the year, despite what the release called "spot shortages in some locations."
Today, Nintendo issued a correction asking everyone to disregard the line about the million systems and the spot shortages. The company didn't offer any new projections for end-of-year domestic shipments, they just want us to know that the million unit target should go down the memory hole.
Given Nintendo's previous promise to ship four million systems worldwide by year's end, we find it hard to believe that not even a million of those system's would go to the world's largest video game market. So we have to wonder, does this retraction point to some Wii production problems that are slowing the planned deployment of the system?
Maybe Nintendo is just reapportioning it's limited supplies in light of crippling shortages in Europe, leaving the U.S. in the cold. Maybe the company just didn't want to tip its hand about regional distribution plans (although we think the damage has already been done if this is the case). Maybe Nintendo is scaling back Wii chatter in preparation for a planned merger with Apple (highly unlikely, but hey, anything is possible).
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According to Yahoo News and G4 TV, Nintendo sold 400k in Japan alone and more than 650k in the US/Canada.
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"while the XBox 360 had 511k, and the Wii had a very respectable 476k."
Remember, these are November sales. In the eleven days for which the Wii was "available" in November, it almost caught up with what the Xbox 360 did in thirty?
And note the quotes I put around "available." I've still never seen a Wii in the wild. In the local Best Buy, they have goofy Wii "protection kits" (that come in boxes at around the right size, shape and markings to pass off as a Wii) stacked up under the Wii demo endcap in an effort to either give the illusion of having Wii in stock, tricking unsuspecting parents into buying the accessory pack instead of the actual console, or both (this insult to my intelligence is enough that this was the last time I'll go video game shopping there), while there are multiple piles of Xbox 360 consoles in the middle of the floor, acting all but as a trip hazard.
I'd say in general, anybody who sells consoles is pushing the Xbox 360 hard, and either they're selling as fast as the stores can put them on the floor (and there are always a lot on the floor), or Microsoft is having trouble with their unspoken "Can't find our direct competitors? Try us!" strategy. But there's still 2 weeks until Christmas, so who knows what will happen.
"However, all of the new consoles were outsold by the lowly PS2 (664k) and DS Lite(641k)."
Um, according to first TFA, the DS sold 918k. Maybe only 641k of those were Lites, but there's no sign of that 641k number in either link provided. Also unmentioned in the blurb is that the PSP did 412k. Since these are US numbers, it makes me wonder where all the "The PSP is neck-and-neck with the DS in North America!" comments are coming from. Unless Canadians bought a half-million PSPs while totally ignoring the DS during November, it looks like the DS has the PSP by over 2:1.
Diclaimer: I'm a raving, rabid, foaming-at-the-mouth Nintendo fanboy. However, the numbers are the numbers.
Play independent games on your PC for twelve months, and stores should become much better stocked.
So the Wii shipped 10% units less than the 360 - in less than half the time. If you look at November, you have to take into account that the Wii launched on Nov. 19th. The PS3 launched 2 days earlier.
So, if you would do some honest statistics, and compare only days where all systems were actually available, those numbers would look just slightly different, probably with the 360 coming in third instead of first...
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Yes, If more Wii consoles were available they would have outsold the 360 and in less time..... Even if the Wii coud have sold 100K more consoles than the Xbox 360, it shouldn't be that close. The big picture is that in November, the 360 managed to sell 500K+ consoles MONTHS after it's launch day and amonst the launch of two other systems. I will be surprised if the Wii sells 500K+ units a year from now like the 360.
To be fair, I've seen that strategy actually work. One of my coworkers went into London Drugs with me to check out some DVDs, saw that they had the PS3 demo set up and some Ps3 boxes, asked about them, found out they weren't available, and then decided he was tired of the wait and bought himself an Xbox 360. So I've seen it work, at least in one case.
Good luck on getting those "honest statistics". There is no such thing when it comes to print and television media. The thing is it doesn't matter what the sales numbers are since two of the consoles are in short supply since launch day. It will matter what those sales figures are next year after they've both been in the field for a while and manufacturing increases. Even if the 360 sold only half the consoles of both the PS3 and Wii, it wins in Novemeber as far as I am concerned..... it's well past it's launch date and still at it's original price. I'm a loyalist to neither company and I'll probably bye a Wii at some point but I just don't see it's sales figures looking like the 360 a year later after it's launch.
Sony sold 197k in the stores, but made up for it by selling 800k on ebay.
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