Console Wars: September 2007

The Halo 3 juggernaut managed to knock the Wii off top spot. For the first time since it’s release, the Wii dropped to second place in sales. According to market research firm NPD, Microsoft sold 527,000 Xbox 360s in September. Wii came close with 501,000 units. Once again, Playstation 3 was third, selling only 119,400 units. The PS2 is still outselling it’s descendant, the aging console moved 215,000.
As for handhelds, the DS is till in the front with over 495,800 consoles sold. The slim and light PSP sold 284,500 units.

Microsoft’s sales boost was primarily due to it’s blockbuster game Halo 3. It took in $170 million on it’s first day and $300 million in it’s first week. It grossed more than any Hollywood movie for that period, which is making the studios a bit nervous. 3.3 million copies have been sold so far, with Wii Play trailing at second place in software sales with 282,000 copies.

One of the Wii’s problems is it’s ability to meet the demand. Wii sales will continue to weaken if Nintendo can’t increase production. I have only seen the console for sale on the shelf once. Though the 360’s hardware quality is inferior to the PS3, sales prove that the games still make or break a console. If Sony can’t get some blockbuster tiles on the PS3 soon, sales will remain stagnated, no matter what price cuts they give.