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NPD Group: US MacBook sales took a 6 percent hit during 2012 holidays
NPD Group is reporting that sales of Apple's MacBook line were 6 percent lower during the period between November 18 and December 22, 2012 than during the same period in 2011. The report, as described by John Virata of AppleInsider, notes that the average selling price of all MacBooks sold was up about US$100 from 2011 to $1,419 as well. Part of the explanation behind the drop in US MacBook sales could be that the only really new Mac notebook released in the run-up to the holiday shopping season was the 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina display. In late 2011, Apple kickstarted sales of the entire MacBook Pro line by adding faster Intel processors, improved GPUs and hard drives with increased capacities. There's one bright side to the numbers, though -- at least sales of MacBooks didn't take the same hit as Windows PCs. NPD's figures showed an 11 percent drop in sales of notebooks running Windows, despite -- or perhaps because of -- the launch of Windows 8. Those touchscreen notebooks running Windows 8 that were hyped in advertisements had an average selling price of $700, but only accounted for 4.5 percent of Windows notebook sales.
October NPD: Downward trend continues, NBA 2K13 dunks at the top
Based on the NPD's purview, the physical sales sector of the video game industry continued its downward year-over-year trend as October came and went, raking in $755.5 million for the period ending on October 27, as compared with the straight-up $1 billion the industry earned during the same period in 2011.Despite the 25 percent difference, however, momentum is building towards the holiday buying season, according to NPD Group analyst Liam Callahan: "While we saw declines in hardware unit sales across all platforms year-over-year, when looking at average sales per week versus September, several consoles realized higher sales: The 360, PS3, NDS and 3DS. This is a sign of increasing momentum as we move into the holiday season."Hardware sales themselves accounted for $187.3 million of October's overall figure, a 37 percent decrease over October 2011's $295.9 million. As usual, the Xbox 360 was the top-selling hardware platform and claimed more than 40 percent of the market, according to Major Nelson.Accessories continue to be the only field of growth in the physical channel, pulling down a five percent increase in October 2012 over October 2011 ($135.6 million and $129.6, respectively). As has been the case in months past, Skylanders toys and digital currency giftcards are primarily responsible for this segment's prosperity.Portable software sales were up 37 percent in comparison with last October thanks to the release of Pokémon Black & White 2, though the rest of the segment failed to best the curve and was down overall by 25 percent. October 2011's software figure of $576.8 million was bolstered by the release of both Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City; since comparable heavy-hitters were missing from this October's release schedule, software sales total at $432.6 million.October's top 10 best-selling games are lead by NBA 2K13, which "outsold last year's 2K12 by over 60 percent in both dollars and units," according to Callahan. As per usual, the full list can be found after the break.
NPD: Android users chew an average 870MB of cellular data per month, youngest gobble the most
Ever wonder how much data you burn through every month on average? If you're an Android user within the US, odds are that it's quite a lot. The NPD Group estimates that Americans of the Google persuasion typically consume about 870MB of data on cellular networks every month. While it's not an extreme amount next to the 2.5GB of WiFi usage, it's enough to give anyone second thoughts about coasting on a basic data plan -- and a reflection of how both 4G and media apps have changed our behavior. Not surprisingly, it's a younger crowd more comfortable with smartphones that's the most aggressive: the 18-24 set races through 1.05GB a month where the 55-plus audience uses a more modest (if still healthy) 750MB. We don't yet know how iOS stacks up in current conditions, but the NPD is promising a comparable look soon. Something tells us the iPhone 5's LTE will lead to just as much voraciousness.
NPD report: America's gamer population is shrinking, mobile overtakes consoles
Is the video game industry finally returning to earth after years of sustained growth? Possibly, although a new market research report that suggests a shrinking gamer population comes with some rather significant caveats. First off, the report by the NPD Group claims that 211.5 million people are playing video games in the U.S. this year, which is approximately two-thirds of the country's total population. That number is 12 million less than in 2011, though (a five percent drop). Console gamers, light PC gamers, avid PC gamers, and family/kid gamers saw the biggest drop, but the downloadable/online and mobile gamer segments experienced substantial growth. According to NPD, mobile gamers now constitute the largest market share, edging out core console gamers at 22 percent of the total.
NPD: Apple, Samsung control 55 percent of the smartphone market, prepaid sales up 91 percent
According to NPD Group, Apple and Samsung control more than half of the American smartphone market. The second-quarter figures reveal that while contract phone sales are flatter than month-old soda, those for pre-paid handsets have shot up by 91 percent compared to the same quarter last year. The upswing is credited to last year's flagship handsets falling down the price ladder, snaring lower-income customers who were unable to afford to be early adopters. Cornering that element of the market has helped the battling duo increase their sales by 43 percent, leaving the rest of the technology pantheon scraping around for crumbs. Speaking of which, HTC is a distant third, having 15 percent of the market, while Motorola (12 percent) and LG (six percent) round out the top five.
NPD: Nintendo 3DS sales hit 5 million in US, Xbox 360 still claims the console crown
The NPD Group's gaming figures for June have made the rounds, and both Microsoft as well as Nintendo have something to crow about, albeit for very different reasons. Nintendo is the most eager to prove itself and says that the 3DS has hit five million total sales in the US since it reached gamers' hands in the country. The tally doesn't compete with the heady numbers smartphone designers are used to, but it's a milestone for a handheld console whose prospects were dim until a sudden price cut fueled sales a year ago. Before Nintendo lets the 155,000 3DS units it sold in June get to its head, however, it's important to get context from Microsoft's own achievements: Redmond shipped 257,000 Xbox 360 units that month and has had the lead among all US consoles for the past year and a half. We're in the dark on Sony data, although it's important that just 90,000 Wii units traded hands in the same month -- as clear a sign as any that the Wii U can't come quickly enough for Satoru Iwata and company.
Gibeau says EA mostly ignores NPD reports; NPD knows 'for a fact' major publishers use them
Last year EA went on record calling the NPD's sales reports "a misrepresentation of the entire industry," and this year EA Labels president Frank Gibeau is taking that sentiment one step further, saying EA largely ignores NPD reports."An occasional bad report from NPD, which measures a sliver of what's actually happening in gaming, gives people an erroneous impression," Gibeau tells Games Industry International. "My point is it's an irrelevant measure on the industry. It's totally irrelevant. We don't even really look at it internally anymore."NPD reports track retail games sales from stores such as GameStop and Wal-Mart, but don't provide a comparable breakdown of digital sales. In Q4 2012, EA saw digital sales generate $419 million, while packaged goods made more than double that, with $949 million.David McQuillan, president of NPD Games, is "surprised" by Gibeau's comments for a few reasons, provided in a statement to Joystiq. The first: "While we will not comment on the specifics on our long-standing relationship with EA, we can say with confidence that we have daily dealings with all of our major publisher clients. And we know for a fact they're using the data."The second reason McQuillan cites is the continued prevalence of physical sales, making up 56 percent of industry sales in 2011. "The current games industry is still largely rooted in retail and any industry player involved with AAA content simply can't take their eye away from the retail environment," he writes.NPD Group's David Riley adds, "We do cover digital. Granted, it's not near the level of granularity that we provide via physical point of sale, but physical POS is still huge and needs to be taken seriously. In my opinion, you do a disservice to our industry when you dismiss the value of retail sales research."EA's Digital sales are growing rapidly, Gibeau says, and EA is focused on riding that streaming, cloud-based, downloadable wave into the future, with or without NPD sales reports."We're going to be a 100 percent digital company, period," he says. "It's going to be there some day. It's inevitable."
NPD estimates $3.40B in game sales in Q1 2012
Market research firm NPD Group has released a handful of details about the video game industry's most recent spending habits, showing a sharp decline. Compared to last year's Q1 2011 estimation of $5.9 billion, total consumer spend in the first quarter of 2012 was down to $3.40 billion. With rapidly declining sales, things may continue to get worse before they recover.The 'Q1 2012 Games Market Dynamics: U.S.' report reveals that while spend on new physical software was on the decline versus last year – with Q1 2012 achieving an estimated $1.5 billion spent on new video and PC game software tracked by the NPD Group – total spend on other forms of physical software, such as used games and rentals, only saw a minimal drop."The declines in the physical market for new physical software are well documented," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said, noting that "broader view of the industry" showed other forms of physical spend, specifically the used game and rental market, "declined by just five percent and digital format content sales grew by 10 percent as compared to Q1 2011." The one-two punch of used games and rentals reached an estimated $525 million in Q1 2012, the report says."While the growth in digital format sales does not yet offset the declines in physical format sales, clearly the changes occurring within the industry are reflected in the trends we are seeing in the research," Frazier added.
Ultrabook sales up in first half of 2012, Windows 8 waits patiently
We've seen so much Ultrabook news recently we're beginning to think they're catching on. Market research firm the NPD Group has stepped in to confirm our suspicions, reporting a 39 percent jump in sales of premium Windows laptops (900 bucks and up) during the first five months of this year, compared with the same period in 2011. Despite a three percent drop in sales of $700-plus Windows notebooks, the Ultrabook share of this bracket increased steadily to nearly 11 percent. The analysts predict sales of these lower-end models will pick up as back-to-school purchases sooth the post-summer blues, with a general boost to the whole Ultrabook market expected when Windows 8 arrives. One thing the figures don't tell us is what impact these sales are having on the revenue of Apple's skinny flagship, but we'd sure like to know. If numbers are your thing, the PR is past the break.
NPD monthly reports integrate Walmart data starting next month
Every month, the NPD Group releases a report on the previous month's US sales in the game industry, both consoles and software. While that monthly report is already "projected to 100% of the market," according to NPD Group's David Riley, next month, it'll get bolstered by the nation's largest retailer: Walmart. Despite being revealed this past February, the past several months of NPD reports haven't included Walmart's numbers."Our enhanced retail coverage, including the addition of several new retailers, begins with May data released on Thursday, June 14," Riley told me in an email yesterday. While he couldn't supply a list of all of the retailers involved, he told me, "Yes, it does include Walmart."With any luck, the addition of Walmart to NPD's stable of retailers reporting – which already includes America's largest game retailer, GameStop – will help to thwart claims of NPD being a "very poor indicator of the industry's performance." Then again, between the lack of digital sales accounted for in NPD's monthly report and the urge of publishers to spin poor sales numbers, those complaints likely won't stop anytime soon.
Study: One in four iPad customers are new to Apple
Remember the early generation iPods - they were so popular and it seemed like everyone, even non-Mac users, had one? A recent NPD report about the iPad suggests the tablet device is slowly replacing the iPod as the device that gets people into the Apple ecosystem. In its Apple Ecosystem Study, the NPD group says 25 percent of buyers in the US snagged the iPad as their first Apple device. In its heyday, over 70 percent of Apple product owners purchased an iPod as their first Apple device. This number drops to 57 percent when you poll people who bought their first Apple device in the last two years. During this same two year period, the number of people picking an iPad or an iPhone as their first Apple device has climbed to 33 percent. Not surprisingly, this transition is reflected in Apple quarterly sales, which has shown a steady decline in iPod sales and increasing iPad and iPhone sales. [Via AppleInsider]
Digital gaming soars nine percent, still knows nothing of rarity value
It's already chewed up some big names on the retail scene, but the game-downloading trend shows no sign of being sated. Fresh figures from market research firm NPD show that American digital game sales (including rentals and DLC) amounted to $2.04 billion in the fourth quarter of 2011, which represents a nine percent year-on-year hike at a time when physical game transactions fell three percent. Things are going the same way across the Atlantic, with the UK, France and Germany adding a further $1.29 billion to the burgeoning click-to-buy market. Industry types will surely welcome the news, since digital titles rake in higher margins (hello, PS Store) and reduce the trade in used discs, but what about those of us who'll one day want to swap our dusty copy of Fight Night Round Four for something more subtle?
NPD: Hardware sales hit $144 billion in 2011, PCs lead the moneymaking pack
Canalys recently announced that smartphone shipments surpassed those of PCs for the whole of 2011. Well, NPD's just released its own set of hardware numbers, this time focused on revenue shares, and it appears PCs (that's laptops and desktops for NPD's purposes) are still far and away the biggest moneymakers around, bringing in about 19 percent (or $28 billion) of the reported $144 billion in hardware sales last year. TVs, PCs and gaming hardware each saw a decline in revenue share while smartphone and tablet sales grew -- slates and e-readers experienced a five percent increase, taking up nearly 11 percent of the hardware pie and raking in $15 billion. Unsurprisingly, Apple topped the chart for sales by manufacturer, seeing a 36 percent increase over 2010, while HP, Samsung, Sony and Dell rounded out the top five with varying levels of sales declines. For more number crunching and statistical whatnots, check out the full PR after the break.
NPD 2011: Sales across industry between $16.3 and $16.6 billion, Ubi tops software sales list
Assassination and dancing has proven to be a lucrative mix, as Just Dance 2 and 3 and Assassin's Creed: Revelations helped Ubisoft to lead this year's best seller's list with three entries. That's according to the NPD Group, which also estimates the video game industry's profits, comprising "new physical video and PC games, used games, game rentals, subscriptions, digital full-game downloads, social network games, downloadable content, and mobile games," reached sales of somewhere between $16.3 and $16.6 billion in 2011. Activision's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 took top honors (it's kind of a big deal), while Just Dance 3 and Skyrim occupied the second and third spots, respectively. NPD also says that, despite sales growth in the digital sector yet again, physical copies offered at retail outlets still accounted for the majority of sales coming in at $9.3 billion, "an 8 percent decline over the $10.1 billion in 2010." That decline was "partially" offset by increases in digital, mobile, and used game sales, which NPD expects to be a focus moving into 2012. "Our overall estimate of the market continues to point toward the increased imperative for deeper visibility into digital distribution than is available today, not only in the U.S. but globally," said NPD prez David McQuillan. Our waning shelf space agrees.
If Siri were paired with a GPS app
We all love Siri. Whether it's the fascinating and sometimes unintentionally humorous comments that it makes, or the fact that it's surprisingly useful in a variety of situations, Siri has captured the imagination of many iPhone users. In a guest post for our sister site Engadget, NPD Group executive director and principal analyst Ross Rubin mused about how great it would be if Siri was paired with GPS navigation capabilities. Rubin's got a point -- right now Apple's intelligent assistant can give you directions, but won't verbalize the turn-by-turn instructions. And navigation apps (and standard GPS navigation units) are, in Rubin's words, "about as passive an experience as watching TV." Rubin imagines a mix of Siri's conversational interface with GPS navigation. As an example, he wonders if you could ask Siri "How's the Grand Central Parkway looking?", and have the app report back on how good or bad traffic currently is on that highway and suggest whether you should switch to another route. It would be even more useful to have Siri and GPS navigation capabilities to accept off-route, unplanned side trips. Rubin uses the example of heading to a party and getting a call from the host asking you to pick up a cake. You'd ask Siri to find a bakery along the way and add that side trip to the route to the party. As he notes, currently you'd need to pull over, search for the bakery, and then add that destination to your trip. The post by Rubin ends with the words "GPS technology has always shined when we are on an unfamiliar path. Pairing it with an intelligent network agent, though, could imbue even a familiar journey with an unfamiliar level of convenience." What do you think? Is Siri-powered navigation coming to future iPhones? Leave your comments below.
STHoldings withdraws more than 200 record labels from Spotify, does so with gusto
STHoldings stormed its way out of Spotify this week, leaving only a trail of choice words in its wake. On Wednesday, the distributor boldly withdrew more than 200 of its record labels from Spotify, Rdio, Simfy and Napster, following the release of a study that cast the music subscription industry in a rather unfavorable light. According to the research, carried out by NPD Group and NARM, cloud-based services like Spotify and Rdio deter consumers from purchasing music via other channels. Amid concerns that these companies may "cannibalise the revenues of more traditional digital services," STHoldings decided to withdraw its catalogue of more than 200 labels. In fact, of the 238 labels consulted on the decision, just four expressed a desire to remain with Spotify, et al. "As a distributor we have to do what is best for our labels," STHoldings explained, in a statement. "The majority of which do not want their music on such services because of the poor revenues and the detrimental affect on sales. Add to that the feeling that their music loses its specialness by its exploitation as a low value/free commodity." The distributor went on to quote one of its labels with a line that rhymes with "duck modify." In comparatively subdued response, Spotify said it respects STHoldings' decision, but still hopes that the labels "will change their minds." The Swedish company also contested STHoldings' study-backed arguments against it, claiming that it has "already convinced millions of consumers to pay for music again," and assuring that artists' revenue streams will "continue to grow." Read more about the study, the stats and the spat at the links below.
Digital video game distribution finds brick and mortar camping, moves in for win
Blame it on the economy, or simply chalk it up to a better way of earning revenue, but physical distributors of new video games are beginning to feel some major heat from the scrappy competition. While this mainstay segment still comprises the bulk of sales with $1.44 billion earned in the previous quarter, the combination of digital purchases, subscriptions, downloadable content, social network and mobile games -- along with help from rentals and used purchases -- now tops $1.74 billion dollars. This news comes from the NPD Group, and while we're still scratching our heads at the logic of combining second-hand purchases with electronic distribution, it provides a strong indicator of consumers' changing tastes and preferences (along with their willingness to spend). Does this industry titan simply need a new console or another Call of Duty to maintain supremacy? Perhaps a modest uptick in GDP? Or does this signal the changing of the guard for our favorite electronic pastime? There's a full PR after the break, where you're welcome to fire one off in the comments and let us know your take. [Image courtesy bradleyolin / flickr]
August NPD: Annual sales drop again, Deus Ex augments the top spot
We're starting to see a trend develop -- a super, super disheartening trend. According to the NPD group, total sales in the U.S. gaming industry dropped 23 percent year-over-year during the month of August; almost exactly the same amount sales declined in July. NPD's Anita Frazier explained, "the bulk of the decline can be attributed to the shift of the annual Madden release from August to September." (The NPD actually counts August 30 as part of September, which seems pretty zany.) Gaming hardware saw an increase in sales over July, largely fueled by the price cuts endured by the 3DS and PlayStation 3. According to a memo sent out by Nintendo following the NPD report, the 3DS discount moved 185,000 consoles from August 12 through the end of the month. This wave managed to increase dollar and unit sales of handheld hardware to a year-over-year increase over August 2010, which bucks the downward trend followed by the rest of the industry. Hooray for discrete electronics! Surprisingly, the top-selling game for August was Deus Ex: Human Revolution, which was only on store shelves for five days during the NPD's tracking window. The group doesn't expect the augmented title to rollover its reign into September, instead expecting Madden to reign supreme. Check out August's Top 10 software performers after the jump!
Android still king of the US smartphone hill, Motorola facing a market nosedive
In other obvious news, Android and iOS continue to sit pretty atop the US smartphone market, according to a recent NPD study. The current titans of the mobile industry both saw their pieces of the OS pie increase in Q2 of 2011, putting Andy Rubin's green robot in the lead with 52 percent and Apple at 29 percent. Newly adopted webOS, and Microsoft's WP7 and Windows Mobile all managed to cling to their respective 5 percent shares with no yearly change, leaving only BlackBerry OS to experience an 11 percent decline. But the real meat and potatoes of the report focuses on Google's soon-to-be in-house partner: Motorola. Despite the rosy picture painted by recent acquisition talks, the company appears to be facing tough competition from Android OEM rivals, and the wireless market as a whole. In regard to overall mobile phone share (read: dumbphones, et al.) and smartphone-only, Moto saw a 3 percent year-to-year decline, with its biggest loss coming from Android unit sales -- a 50 percent drop to 22 percent of the market. Will the rosy glow of Mountain View "help inspire new paths to differentiation" for Moto, or are we just looking at a repeat of the "RAZR era?" While you ponder these pressing questions, head past the break to read the full report.
Digital games distribution earned $3.8 billion in 2010, a quarter of entire video game market
Alright, so technically all video games are digital, but what we're talking about here is the stuff that you don't buy on physical media -- downloadable games, add-on content, mobile apps, subscriptions, and gaming on social networks. That market has grown to account for 24 percent of all video game revenues in 2010, or $3.8 billion, according to the Entertainment Software Association. The ESA is the body running the currently ongoing E3 shindig, and its data comes from the NPD Group, which likes to keep a cold robotic finger on the gaming industry's pulse. Other findings in the latest ESA study include the average age of gamers (37!), the best-selling genres (action with 21.7 percent, followed by sports at 16.3 percent), and the highest-grossing games of 2010 (no prizes for guessing the warmongering winner of that one). Give the source link a bash to immerse yourself in even more gaming trivia from yesteryear.
