Console Wars: January

Well, we have NPD sales reports for US console sales for the month of January. Wii was on top once again, but surprising to some, the PS3 edged out the 360 by 39,000 units. Lets serve up some hot and fresh figures.

TV Top Consoles
Wii: 274,000 units
PS3: 269,000 units
PS2: 264,000 units
Xbox 360: 230,000 units

Handhelds
Nintendo DS: 251,000 units
PSP: 230,000 units

I don’t find these sales figures particularly surprising, at least when it comes to the PS3 outselling the 360. I feel that hardware wise, the 360 is reaching a point of market saturation. For those less economically inclined, that means that mostly everybody who wants a 360 already has one. The PS3’s strong figures are due to the highly successful 40gb model at it’s $399 price point, same as the 360 Premium while offering more features. Also, Sony has really strengthened their software lineup in the past five months with titles like Uncharted and Ratchet & Clank. There are also big upcoming exclusive releases of LittleBigPlanet, Home, and Gran Turismo 5. The 360 is also starting to loose its edge software wise with developers looking to make make more cross platform titles.
What I do find surprising is the enduring presence of the PS2 in North America. The console turns eight years old this year but is still selling almost as many units as the Wii and PS3, and is outselling the 360. It is the cheapest console, but in the past, North Americans have been reluctant to hold on to past generations. Most older consoles die out less than a year after the release of the next generation. Sony seems to have no plans to discontinue it and there are still plenty of games being released or planning to be released in the next year. The face of gaming is starting to change as both the Wii and PS2 target a much neglected sector of the gaming market, the casual gamer. One final thing worth noting is the the PS2 and PS3 are starting to catch up to Wii sales. The big question is if these sales trends will continue. I’m pretty confident they will based on what I’ve seen.

Source: Dailytech