Console Manufacturers Tout December, 2007 Success

Following the release of NPD data for 2007, Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have each weighed in, highlighting their individual successes among the data. Though Microsoft chose to highlight total to-date unit sales and Sony elected to tout December revenue, Nintendo pointed to NPD data that showed that the DS was the top-selling video game system of 2007, with nearly 8.5 million sold in that year, including 4 million units in November and December alone. Wii consoles were second in terms of unit sales, selling almost 6.3 million in 2007, with more than 2.3 million of those sold in November and December. Since their respective launches, Nintendo has sold more than 17.6 million Nintendo DS systems and close to 7.4 million Wii systems in the U.S. Xbox 360 sold 1.3 million consoles in December, and PlayStation 3 sold 798,000. Nonetheless, between the Wii and DS, Nintendo accounted for 52 percent of all video game hardware systems sold in the year. Nintendo claims responsibility for 60 percent of the 43 percent industry growth over 2006. Microsoft points out that Xbox 360's U.S. installed base totals 9.2 million consoles, compared to 7.4 million Wii consoles and 3.3 million PS3 consoles. The company also notes NPD figures showing consumers spent more than $13.7 billion on Xbox 360 consoles -- 45 percent of industry figures -- compared to Wii with $3.5 billion and PlayStation 3 with $2.2 billion. Sony, on the other hand, chose to highlight December sales that represent a 60 percent increase over the same period in 2006, and an 87 percent month-to-month increase in December for PSP, which sold 1.1 million hardware units. According to NPD, PlayStation total hardware revenue was $714 million in December, surpassing the total hardware revenue of Microsoft and Nintendo, and Sony saw almost a month-to-month doubling of software sales in December 2007 to $822 million. NPD data shows that 11 of the top 20 best-selling titles of 2007 were Xbox 360 titles; seven were sold on the Wii and two sold on the PS3. Nintendo takes a wider lens to note that half of the top 30 titles are either DS or Wii titles. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare for Xbox 360 led total software sales in December, selling 1.5 million copies, but Wii Play led with 4.1 million units sold.