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December NPD: hardware sales push industry to new heights
The latest numbers escaping from poorly guarded NPD holding cells indicate that the gaming industry enjoyed a 27.8% sales increase in the month most closely associated with holidays and reckless spending. Strong hardware sales in December helped push the industry up to an annual $12.5 billion, a sizable increase compared to last year's $10.5 billion.Contrary to the figures cited in a CNBC report earlier this month, the console winner of Christmas 2006 was not the Xbox 360, but the Playstation 2. Unsurprisingly, the Nintendo DS reigned supreme in the portable arena, as well as in overall sales.NPD console sales for December 2006 DS: 1.6 million (9.2 million life-to-date) PlayStation 2: 1.4 million (37.1 million life-to-date) Xbox 360: 1.1 million (4.5 million life-to-date) PSP: 953.2k (6.7 million life-to-date) Game Boy Advance: 850.7k (35.1 million life-to-date) Wii: 604.2k (1.1 million life-to-date) PS3: 490.7k (687.3k life-to-date) The top-selling game for December was Microsoft's Gears of War, followed closely by Guitar Hero II. Rounding out the top five are Madden NFL '07 (PS2) and both versions of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Interestingly, the waggle-free version of Link's latest adventure sold around 13,000 more copies. Check out the full Gamedaily Biz article for further details, numbers and invaluable fanboy ammunition.
November NPD: revised data reveals current install bases
Earlier this month, a whole slew of numbers escaped from the NPD's inadequate holding facilities and viciously assaulted gamers with all sorts of sales tallies and percentages. Having discovered an error in their historical data, the analytical group has seen fit to unleash the numbers again, though an important one is now somewhat smaller and thus, less dangerous. It was previously reported that year-to-date sales had risen 25% in November, when in fact, they had only risen by 16% (putting the industry at $8.76 billion). Please calm yourselves, we're as crushed by this dramatic reversal as you are. Far more intriguing, however, is the now rectified install base data for consoles in the US. Be sure to use this information the next time you have a prolonged, ultimately pointless argument on the sleazy gaming forum of your choice: PS2: 35.8 million GBA: 34.3 million DS: 7.6 million PSP: 5.7 million Xbox 360: 3.4 million Wii: 476 thousand PS3: 197 thousand The full report on GameDaily BIZ also notes that Microsoft sold 42 thousand HD-DVD drives for the 360 -- that's only 1.24% of the total install base.
November NPD: big franchises, new consoles drive industry sales up 34% [update 1]
The above headline shouldn't come as a great surprise to many gamers, what with November having been a deadly obstacle course of top-tier franchises and console debuts. Surviving the month with wallet unscathed was quite impossible, a fact clearly reflected in the NPD's sales data for the period which typically sees manufacturers clash in full force, guns blazing. Consumers caught in the cash crossfire spent an impressive $1.7 billion in total, with console, software and accessory sales all seeing notable increases. The NPD's Anita Frazier told GameDaily BIZ that she expects this to be a record-breaking year for the industry, with total sales expected to come in at $14 billion. In the interest of having you maintain consciousness, we've put the most pertinent information into those convenient bullet-point things (it also ties in nicely with our earlier gun metaphor):Console Sales (units) DS: 918k PS2: 664k Game Boy Advance: 661k Xbox 360: 511k Wii: 476k PSP: 412k PS3: 197k Software Sales (units and sales grossed) Gears of War: 1 million -- $61.5 million Final Fantasy XII: 896k -- $49 million The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess: 412k -- $20.2 million Guitar Hero II: 356k -- $20.2 million Check out the full report for even more numbers and commentary -- mind you don't go cross-eyed.[Update 1: PSP information added.]
