Media metrics firm NPD has released its figures for October sales of video games and video game systems in the United States, and the news was again good for Sony. During the month, the PlayStation 3 continued to outsell Microsoft’s Xbox 360, moving 321,000 units during the month compared to 250,000 units for the Xbox 360. The Nintendo Wii still remains the console to beat—selling some 507,000 units during the month—but the Wii looks to have peaked: compared to October of 2008, saled of the Nintendo Wii are down 37 percent.
Tag Archive: NPD
Last Month’s Top-Selling Console? The PlayStation 3
Sony seems to be reaping the benefits of it’s long-put-off price cuts to its PlayStation 3 gaming console: according to media analysis firm NPD, the PlayStation 3 was the top-selling gaming console in the United States during the month of September, moving 491,800 units during the month. The victory marks the first time the PlayStation 3 has topped the U.S. console sales charts since the system was introduced almost three years ago.
The Nintendo Wii dropped to second place, with 462,800 units in sales, and Microsoft’s Xbox 360 finished in third place with 352,600 unit sales.
Blu-ray Player Sales Rising as Prices Fall
Market research firm NPD has released its latest point-of-sales tracking data for for Blu-ray players, and the news may finally be good for backers of the Blu-ray high-definition disc format. NPD found that sales of Blu-ray players during the first quarter of 2009 increased 72 percent from the first quarter of 2009, with sales of standalone Blu-ray players (that is, player that aren’t bundled into things like the PlayStation 3) reaching 400,000 units during the quarter.
NPD: Apple Rules High-End Retail Computers
According to a new report from research outfit The NPD Group, Apple has done more than carve out a niche for itself in the high-end retail computer market: it’s actually in a dominant position. NPD found that Apple accounted for 66 percent of all U.S. retail computer sales for systems costing $1,000 or more during the first three months of 2008. Among desktop computers, that figure is even higher—70 percent—although among notebooks it’s still a startling 64 percent.
Nintendo Wii: Top Console in January
New sales numbers from market research firm NPD show that the Nintendo Wii was far and away the top-selling video game console during January 2007, moving some 436,000 units during the month. However, the rest of the pack was comparatively tight, with Sony’s long-standing PlayStation 2 claiming the number two spot with 299,000 units sold, while Microsoft’s Xbox 360 landed the number three position with 294,000 units sold and Sony’s much-touted but still-pricey PlayStation 3 finding itself in fourth place with 244,000 units.
NPD: Nearly Half Heavy Gamers Ages 6 to 17
A bit of conventional wisdom in the video game industry is that serious gamers—you know, the players who really get into mastering complex immersive games, devote themselves to online play and tournaments, invest in peripherals and strategy guides, tweak their systems—are generally males between the ages of 18 and 34. And maybe smell a little ripe.
A new survey from the NPD Group seems to belay that impression. Surveying more than 16,000 respondents aged six to 44 in an online consumer survey, NPD found that some 45 percent of “Heavy Gamers” are actually between 6 and 17 years of age—and that 21 pecent of them are female. Further, nearly one-third of Avid Console Gamers (the largest overall segment of the NPD study) are between the ages of 6 and 17.
U.S. Video Game Sales for PCs Fell in 2005
Hot on the heels of reporting 2005 was a record year for portable video game sales in the U.S., the NPD Group said today that domestic sales of CD-ROM video games for PCs slumped by 14 percent compared to 2004, to a total of just $953 million. Overall sales volume came to 38 million units, a 19 percent decline from the 47 million units sold in 2004.
The decline came as online gaming grew in popularity, with Blizzard Entertainment’s massively multiplayer online role-playing game World of Warcraft selling nearly 1 million units alone. Other big hits were EA’s The Sims 2: University Expansion Pack (574,000 sold), and The Sims 2 (559,000 sold).
P2P Still Rules the Download Scene
It could all come down to the Supreme Court ruling in the MGM vs. Grokster case that determines whether digital downloads will cease to exist or not. According to NPD, P2P (peer-to-peer) downloads are still ruling the net despite increased interest by users in the pay-to download market. To give you an idea of just how skewed the landscape really is, in March of 2005 243 million songs were downloaded from P2P services compared to only 26 million songs that were actually purchased online. But things could be changing.
U.S. Video Game Sales Up 32% in March
“Citing figures from market researchers NPD Group, analysts also said Sony Corp.’s new PlayStation Portable handheld gaming unit sold 620,000 units of hardware in the month and 1.1 million pieces ofsoftware. The PSP was released on March 24.
By comparison, Nintendo Co. Ltd.’s DS dual-screen handheld has sold 428,000 units this year, analysts said, quoting NPD. The DS, which costs $100 less than the PSP, launched last year.
The supply of Sony’s PlayStation 2 console continued to improve, analysts said, with 495,000 sold in the month, compared with 227,000 units of Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox and 94,000 units of Nintendo’s GameCube. “
Apple iTunes Remains Dominant
Napster’s share for the same time period was 11 percent, while MusicMatch, RealNetworks and Wal-Mart each reached a six percent share.
“Our research suggests that at this stage of the business it’s not so much about building share as it is about creating demand for paid downloads universally,” said Russ Crupnick, vice president of The NPD Group, Inc. “The overriding challenge for paid music download services is to first make the concept enticing to a wider audience and then to build loyalties to a specific service.”
