NPD Predicts Strong Christmas Period

Survey group NPD Funworld have produced a report predicting a strong market growth for the upcoming holiday season. This is in spite of the fact that that the total video games industry experienced a 3.4% decline in dollar volume January to August 2003, compared to the same period last year. Unit volume though has increased 8.4% for the same period. Total console hardware sales declined by 5.1% in unit volume and 18.5% in dollar volume but software sales increased by 14% in unit volume and by 5.7% in dollar volume. Other highlights of the NPD report include a 33% increase in action and family entertainment titles – indicating a positive effect on the market by mass market or “casual” gamers. It was also revealed that over 50% of software is now selling at a price below $40, across all console formats. Figures were also produced that seem to dispute Microsoft’s often made claim that the Xbox has the highest software attach ratio of any hardware. NPD’s figures put the GBA at a 3.3 ratio, GameCube at 5.7, Xbox at 5.8 and PS2 well ahead at 7.1. All these figures are higher than at the same time last year by almost exactly one unit. Finally, the company has produced a top ten sales chart for the entire period January to August 2003, in which EA and Nintendo emerge as the dominant publishers in the US.

The NPD Group/NPD Techworld