The Xbox 360 outsold the Wii, which outsold the PlayStation 3.
That in a nutshell is how the crucial holiday shopping season went for the video game industry’s latest consoles. But that battle does not tell the whole story of a curious December.
Over all, the industry sold $3.7 billion of hardware, software and accessories in the United States last month, up from $2.9 billion in the same period a year ago. For the full year, sales were $12.5 billion, the industry’s highest-ever returns, according to widely watched figures released Thursday by NPD Group, a market research firm.
During December, Sony in particular turned in surprisingly strong sales — but not for its new PlayStation 3.
In a development that industry analysts said speaks to the strength of the video-game market and the lure of low prices, the nation’s best-selling console during the holiday season was Sony’s PlayStation 2, a six-year-old system.
Americans bought 1.4 million PlayStation 2s during the period. That was more than the Xbox 360, which sold 1.1 million units; the Nintendo Wii, which sold 604,000; and the PlayStation 3, which sold 491,000.
The sales figures for the PlayStation 3, and in particular the Wii, fell below the expectations of industry analysts.
No comments:
Post a Comment