Enterbrain: Wii Lead Over PS3 Rises To 3:1

Monthly data from Japanese research firm and Famitsu magazine publisher Enterbrain, as reported by Reuters, has shown that the Wii’s lead over the PlayStation 3 in hardware sales in Japan has increased during December to a ratio of more than 3:1. Wii sales had fallen in the autumn months in Japan, thanks to a lack of major new releases, while PlayStation 3 sales had increased following price cuts and the introduction of the 40GB hard drive version. This lead to the Wii lead over the PlayStation 3 decreasing to just 2:1 in October and the PS3 outselling the Wii by a small margin in November. The release of major titles such as Super Mario Galaxy and Wii Fit has seen a recent resurgence in Wii hardware sales in Japan, which have generally not suffered the same stock problems seen in the West. Although no new weekly data has been published this year by rival research firm Media Create, due to the Japanese New Year holiday celebrations, Enterbrain claims that 774,123 Wiis were sold in the five weeks to December 30th, compared to 232,421 units of the PlayStation 3. The Xbox 360 console sold 38,994 units according to Enterbrain. Overall in 2007, Enterbrain calculate that Nintendo has sold 3.6 million Wii consoles in Japan, three times that of the PlayStation 3 at around 1.2 million units. The Xbox 360 sold 257,841 units over the course of the year.