Nintendo Dominates April Game Console Market

Nintendo's (NTDOY.PK) Wii sold nearly three-quarters of a million units—a number typically found only in the holiday months—during April. The Wii sold nearly 179,000 units a week in April (since NPD Group's April figures were a five-week cycle this time), up 24% from March 2008 and 98% from April 2007. In comparison, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 sold roughly 188,000 units each during the month-or roughly 47,000 units per week. For the Xbox 360, this represents a 10% decrease from March 2008 and 8% decrease from April 2007. The PlayStation 3's weekly sales represent a decrease of 9% over March 2008 but an increase of 128% from April 2007.

What does this all mean? Well, for starters, Nintendo's demand is reaching unprecedented heights. Further, we can see that the PlayStation 3 is improving its position relative to the Xbox 360. The PS3 outsold the Xbox 360 two out of the last four months, and was barely outsold by the Xbox 360 the other two. This is a sharp contrast from last year, where the Xbox 360 routinely and substantially outsold the console.

April hardware sales may indicate that Sony (SNE) and Microsoft (MSFT) have reached nearly all of the gamers who are willing to spend $350-$400 on a console, since the highly anticipated release of Grand Theft Auto IV did not improve hardware numbers very much. Some analysts are expecting a summer price drop for both consoles, although the console manufacturers state that GTA IV did produce a significant sales increase that will be shown in the May sales figures.

The software sales are unsurprising. Grand Theft Auto IV dominated the sales charts with sales reaching nearly 3 million units in five days. Nintendo's Mario Kart Wii made a solid debut, following similar footsteps from Nintendo's other big franchises: Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Super Mario Galaxy. Wii Fit is expected to launch with strong demand this month. Guitar Hero III's success on the Wii bodes well for this summer's Rock Band release on the Wii.

Top Videogame Hardware – April 2008

1. Wii - 714,200
2. Nintendo DS - 414,800
3. PSP - 192,000
4. Xbox 360 - 188,000
5. PlayStation 3 - 187,100
6. PlayStation 2 - 124,400

Top Videogame Software – April 2008

1. Grand Theft Auto IV (Xbox 360) - 1,850,000
2. Mario Kart Wii (Wii) - 1,120,000
3. Grand Theft Auto IV (PS3) - 1,000,000
4. Wii Play (Wii) - 360,000
5. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (Wii) - 326,000
6. Gran Turismo 5: Prologue (PS3) - 224,000
7. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Darkness [DS] - 202,000
8. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time [DS] - 202,000
9. Guitar Hero III (Wii) - 152,000
10. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) - 141,000

Disclosure: None

Comments

[Grampy:]

Excellent analysis, especially compared to a article here just a few days ago by an "expert" who shall remain nameless, who declared the Wii as not fit for investment. It is about time for those that expected, predicted or hoped for the Wii bubble to pop, to wake up and smell the coffee. It is obvious that Nintendo correctly read the market as being far less concerned about high definition video (witness the disappointing Blu Ray sales) and more interested in accessible gaming without the highly complex controls. They also like new fresh ideas like Wii Fit will should be a major coup. The ongoing domination of the handheld market by the DS, another gaming devise that "experts" dismissed as not being able to compete with the SONY Play Station Portable should tell us that Miyamoto and Nintendo know exactly what they are doing.
Nintendo has only made a few miscues like the GameCube, which never could catch up to the wildly successful PS2; but it is obvious now that they understand the market far better than their competition, or the majority of trade watchers, who they constantly embarrass. Developers are getting the message and investors should also. This is NO FAD.

2008 May 19 01:16 PM

[seeksome:]

Nintendo is here to stay they were the first and now they are back with a vengeance.

2008 May 20 11:01 PM

[tilion:]

"...but it is obvious now that they understand the market far better than their competition..."

I think it's important that Nintendo did not see "the market" that Sony and MSFT saw: they saw a bigger market. S & M focused their efforts on hard-core gamers who are willing to buy the latest, fastest, bestest. Nintendo learned with DS that there are literally hundreds of millions of people out there beyond that narrow market. They produced a console to appeal to those people and created their own market.

2008 May 22 02:43 PM