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ComScore: Black Friday online spending rings in at a record $1.04 billion
Considering the parody-worthy dangers of America's busiest shopping day, it's no surprise to hear that online consumerism is on the rise. According to ComScore, 57.3 million Americans took their wallets to digital storefronts on Black Friday, spending a record $1.04 billion in the process. "With Black Friday online sales up 26 percent and surpassing $1 billion for the first time, coupled with early reports indicating that Black Friday sales in retail stores were down 1.8 percent, we can now confidently call it a multi-channel marketing phenomenon," stated ComScore Chairman Gian Fulgoni. The organization also noted that digital content sales are on the rise, too, citing a 29 percent increase in the category over the same period last year. Finally, Fulgoni projected Cyber Monday sales in excess of $1.5 billion, based on observations culled from the years past. Read on for ComScore's official numbers.
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.
EA reveals SWTOR subscription and sales numbers, beats financial predictions [Updated]
It looks like Star Wars: The Old Republic didn't let its daddy down, as EA has reported much better sales than expected for the December quarter, largely thanks to the runaway sales of the new MMO title (as well as many of EA's other heavy-hitters). The company ended up earning an adjusted $344 million for a total net loss of $205 million, which isn't too shabby if you consider how much money just went into the development and launch of The Old Republic. Perhaps most interestingly to players, however, is the fact that EA has reported sales of more than 2 million units of The Old Republic with about 1.7 million subscribers. Those are the highest (and the hardest) numbers we've heard so far. EA's Chief Financial Advisor, Eric Brown, stated in an interview that EA managed to pull in more SWTOR subscribers than the studio had initially anticipated. He added that at launch, the studio was able to add a great number of users per server courtesy of some technical improvements. If you're economically minded and want to get the full, dirty, stock market details, just click past the link below. [Thanks to Gabriel for the tip!] [Update: Darth Hater has compiled some additional TOR-related statistics and Q&A from today's EA earnings call: "2,000,000+ copies sold, 40% sold through Origin; 1,700,000+ active subscribers, 1 million concurrent." The company also notes that "Active subscribers means anyone paying OR in their trial period. MOST of those 1.7m are paying at this point."]
IDC: tablet shipments drop 28 percent in Q1 2011
Whether you believe we're living in a post-PC world or not, there's no denying the overwhelming growth of tablets in the past few years. Just this March, IDC put out figures saying 2010 saw the sale of 18 million tablets, but despite the recent boom, the outfit's now reporting a 28 percent drop in tablet shipments in Q1 2011, bringing first quarter worldwide shipments to 7.2 million. IDC's latest report points to "slower consumer demand, overall economic conditions, and supply-chain constraint," but nonetheless estimates that total tablet sales will reach 53.5 million by year's end, up from IDC's original estimate of 50.4 million. Once again, Apple's come out on top of the slate game, with the iPad 2 leading the market, despite its own dip in shipments. E-readers have apparently also seen a decline in the first quarter, with shipments dipping to 3.3 million units. Despite a slow start to the year, however, IDC's optimistic about future sales, but you don't have to take our word for it -- full PR awaits you after the break.
Apple on track to ship 10 million iPads in Q2 2011
Asian newspaper Digitimes is reporting that Apple may deliver over 10 million iPads in the upcoming quarter. According to component suppliers, Apple is poised to ship over 6 million iPads in the current quarter, 3 million of which will be iPad 2 models. As production ramps up and demand increases, the Cupertino company may sell between 10 to 12 million iPads in the next quarter. Apple is estimated to sell over 40 million iPads by the end of the year, and Digitimes predicts that more than half of this 40 million figure will be sold in the second half of the year. This 10 million figure is significant as this jump to double-digit sales is occurring when competition for the iPad will begin to heat up. The 3G Motorola Xoom is available now, but a less-expensive Wi-Fi only version is expected to debut in April. The long-awaited BlackBerry PlayBook as well as the 3D-capable LG Optimus Pad are also expected to land in the upcoming months. Finally, you have the webOS-powered Touchpad, which is projected to land this summer. Despite a variety of challengers, sales of the iPad are still projected to increase. Impressive. [Via Electronista]
Microsoft announces 2.5 million Kinects sold in first 25 days
Points for style, Microsoft, crossing the 2.5 million Kinect sensors sold mark a convenient 25 days into your global sales of that ever-so-hackable / sometimes-cool-for-gaming item. This number factors in Black Friday sales from this past weekend, and has us really curious as to how well Sony has been doing of late -- Sony's been mum on Move numbers since it announced 1 million units shipped about a month ago. Microsoft says it's on pace to sell 5 million Kinect units through this holiday, which leads us to wonder: what sort of 3D video extravaganza could we pull off with 5 million Kinects in tandem?
Microsoft sold one million Kinect sensors in 10 days, will be watching you sleep for a lifetime
Now that Microsoft's real motivations for building the Kinect are crystal clear, it's impossible not to find a sinister tone in Microsoft's latest press release: a proud proclamation of one million Kinects sold worldwide in 10 days. Microsoft says it's on pace to sell a previously projected five million sensors by year's end, but reading in between the lines we're positive they're implying some sort of nefarious partnership with the TSA to ruin your holiday travel plans. You heard it here first, folks. On the Kinect vs. Move front, comparisons are a little difficult because Sony's numbers (around 3 million worldwide as of last month) were of "shipped" units, not "sold." We'll see who the real winner is after the holidays are over and the dust settles, but for now we wish all three motion-sensing consoles the best of luck. You know, except for the two we don't own because they suck.
600,000 iPhone 4s pre-ordered, Apple apologizes for issues
We were amazed last night to see both Apple and AT&T sell out of iPhone 4 pre-order units despite the sustained ordering issues, and now we know why: Apple managed to move 600,000 iPhones in just a single day. Yes, that's a lot -- Apple says it's the largest number of pre-orders it's ever taken in one day, and AT&T says it's ten times as many orders as it took for the iPhone 3GS. It's not all sunshine and roses, though; Apple's also apologizing to the large numbers of people who simply couldn't get through yesterday, and AT&T's suspended pre-orders entirely until the device is in stock. We're guessing AT&T might also be putting the stopper on things while it gets those pesky security issues under control, but there's a chance the carrier is just trying to deal with the insane order volume coming from Apple's servers -- it served up 13 million eligibility checks yesterday, shattering the previous record by three times. All in all, it looks like Apple has a hot item on its hands here -- almost too hot to handle. Here's Apple's full statement: Yesterday Apple and its carrier partners took pre-orders for more than 600,000 of Apple's new iPhone 4. It was the largest number of pre-orders Apple has ever taken in a single day and was far higher than we anticipated, resulting in many order and approval system malfunctions. Many customers were turned away or abandoned the process in frustration. We apologize to everyone who encountered difficulties, and hope that they will try again or visit an Apple or carrier store once the iPhone 4 is in stock. Update: Looks like that "ships by" date just slipped once more from July 2nd to July 14th. Yikes.
Sprint fires employee who leaked weak EVO 4G sales numbers
You know the backstory by now: Sprint boasted that the EVO 4G was its fastest selling phone ever a couple of days after hitting the American market, before abruptly correcting itself and admitting that the EVO's sales were in fact in line with those achieved by the Pre last summer. What you, and we, didn't know till now, however, is that Sprint's self-correction was sparked off by an employee with a curious mind and posting privileges over on the xda-developers forum. On June 6, according to MobileCrunch, this unnamed hero of truthiness browsed Sprint's internal inventory system and nailed down a figure of 65,500 sold units from Sprint's own stores -- a stat far south from what Sprint would announce a day later. That number ultimately found its way onto the message board, and though it obviously shouldn't be taken as authoritative (or exhaustive), it was enough to get Sprint to hit the auto-correct button and part ways with the activist member of staff. Harsh. [Thanks, Carol]
NPD: Xbox 360 wins US sales war in a downbeat February
The cosmos must clearly have approved of Microsoft's actions over this past month, as today we're hearing the Xbox 360 broke out of its competitive sales funk to claim the title of "month's best-selling console" ... for the first time in two years. Redmond's own Aaron Greenberg describes it as the best February in the console's history, with 422,000 units sold outshining the consistently popular Wii (397,900) and the resurgent PS3 (360,100 consoles shifted, which was a 30 percent improvement year-on-year). In spite of the happy campers in Redmond and Tokyo, the overall numbers for the games industry were down 15 percent on 2009's revenues, indicating our collective gaming appetite is starting to dry up. Good thing we've got all those motion-sensing accessories coming up to reignite our fire.
NPD: Wii reclaims lead in US sales, but console gaming market shrinks by a fifth
The NPD has released its US video game industry figures for October, which reveal that total monthly revenue from hardware, software and accessories among all manufacturers fell to $1.07 billion, constituting a 19 percent drop from what the American gamer spent over the same period last year. After being toppled from its chart-leading ways in September by a price cut-boosted PS3, the Wii has regained its sales throne by chopping $50 off its own entry fee, making itself buoyant in the US, if not the world. The PS3's own sales have suffered a slump after the September euphoria, while the 360 is still wearing the dunce cap in third place. Microsoft's response has been to keep banging that drum about being the only console to show year-to-date growth, but when you're selling less than half as many consoles as Nintendo, you have to grasp at whatever straws are nearby. Speaking of Nintendo, its DS sales so far this year have continued at such a rate as to threaten its own 2008 hardware sales record -- set by the Wii -- with ten million units sold. So there you have it: Sony fails to maintain its September lead, Nintendo keeps churning, and Microsoft keeps hoping for better times ahead. Full list of figures after the break.
T-Mobile sells a million G1s in the US
We don't know why T-Mobile isn't trumpeting this, but Deutsche Telekom's Q1 results are out, and the multinational carrier says that over one million G1s have been sold in the US, making up a majority of the 1.5 million 3G devices currently active on T-Mo's network. That's quite an accomplishment in just six months, considering the Android handset launched without nationwide 3G coverage -- it's better now, but we're talking just 21 cities back in October. Of course, a million's just a drop in the bucked compared to the number of Blackberrys, iPhones, and Windows Mobile devices out there, but we've got enough of a soft spot for Android to overlook it -- now let's get some more devices out the door and really boost that marketshare number, shall we?[Via Electronista]
600k DSis sold opening weekend in US and Europe
It wasn't the most hyped launch ever, but Nintendo's DSi had itself a fine little opening weekend, with 300,000 units moving in the US and Europe each. Not bad at all, considering that the first DS only sold 500,000 units in its first entire week in the US -- we're guessing the DSi will manage to meet that mark when the final numbers all come in. So, anyone out there pick one up?
Guild Wars tops 5 million sold
A bit behind the times with this, but better late than never: Guild Wars cracked five million boxes sold late last month! NCsoft is (understandably) pleased, and there's a lot of crowing in the official press release. That number includes every box in the whole franchise, of course, so that's spread out across Prophecies, Factions, Nightfall, and Eye of the North. That's a pretty outstanding achievement, with the game having originally launched back in April of 2005. Back in the day, just after World of Warcraft had launched, the idea of a US publisher succeeding with a game that didn't require a subscription was considering crazy talk. With Guild Wars 2 already in the works and now five million units of the original out and about in the world, I'd say that kind of talk is now quite debunked.While it doesn't look like there's any sort of in-game celebration going on, the site has a few details for other community-type things. The February Championship series results are in, if you care about that sort of thing. They're also running a contest right now, if you have an eye for design, looking to get players making brand-new weapons for inclusion in the game. The weapons from the 2007 design-a-weapon contest are fantastic, so good luck to any budding artists out there. %Gallery-9135%
DMC4 for Xbox 360 outsells PS3 in UK
It's been said that the most important thing in this generation of hardware is exclusive software that helps differentiate one console from another. While Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony have had their share of exclusive third-party titles (of varying quality) the most talked about issues stem from titles going multiplatform. Such was the case for Devil May Cry 4, which when announced for the Xbox 360 and PC sent Sony loyalists into a maddening spiral of rage. The incentive for publishers to distribute once exclusive titles across multiple platforms opens the flood gates of potential profits (Read: monies) and that excuse seems to be paying off for Capcom.According to a report from Gamesindustry.biz the initial sales figures of DMC4 favor the Xbox 360 version in the UK claiming 61% of the title's total software launch sales while Sony and the PC share the claims the remaining 39%. While we think it's great to have quality releases from Capcom in this generation for the Xbox we doubt anything they do can ever make up for Dino Crisis 3.Update: Whoops, the PC version hasn't been released.
PS3 outsells Wii again in Japan
Last week, the PlayStation 3 turned heads throughout the industry when it outsold the Wii in Japan, pushing 65,000 units. It appears the the tidal wave that is the newly introduced 40GB PS3 doesn't appear to be slowing down much as it outsold Nintendo's console for the second week in a row.While the total number dipped to 53,000 systems, it still outsold its foe by almost 20,000 units as the Wii only managed 36,000 sales.After going through such a rough inaugural year with the PS3, it's interesting to see the turnaround Sony's managed with its console. Battling through bad press, over-priced systems and a lack of compelling games, it appears the PlayStation 3 has finally turned the corner and is now everything we expected it to be. Now, can it go for the trifecta?[Via MCV]
Sony hopeful for successful Black Friday PS3 sales
Ya know those sexy new commercials Sony recently unveiled highlighting the new 40GB PlayStation 3 and just about everything else that makes us love the system? Well, they've all been leading up to tomorrow - Black Friday. It just happens to be the day when the gaming industry sells more games and systems than any other day of the year.And on the eve of such an important day, Sony issued a press release to ensure we and everyone else know why the PS3 is geared to achieve the kind of holiday success it has always hoped for.Hit the jump to see the evidence.
Analysts: PS3 will overtake Xbox 360 by 2009
One of our favorite aspects of covering the video game industry are analyst predictions. Oftentimes, they're entirely off base, but every now and then, they get things right. Hopefully, DFC Intelligence's new report will be spot on. The company released several reports predicting the PlayStation 3 will overtake the Xbox 360 in overall console sales due to a massive surge in the gaming industry in 2009.While the research group doesn't believe the PS3 will move ahead of the Wii in total hardware numbers, it predicts the PS3 will generate more software revenue than Nintendo's console by 2012. "We could have a situation where the Wii sells more hardware units, but by 2012 the PlayStation 3 is generating more software revenue," said David Cole, a DFC analyst.However, this isn't the first time a research group has predicted Sony's dominance early next decade. With so many analysts coming together saying the same thing, one of them is bound to be right ... right? Let's just hope they're not all looking at the same report![Via IGN]
NPD clarifies December sales info
The NPD group has made an official statement regarding yesterday's widespread news that the Xbox 360 narrowly outsold both the Wii and PS3 over the holidays. It appears that the sources that broke the story -- taken from a video segment on CNBC -- mistakenly attributed sales numbers to NPD. NPD's David Riley clarifies that CNBC only had numbers from November's NPD report. Any December sales numbers did not come from NPD. It is currently unknown from where the sales data in question was derived. We'll have definitive numbers when NPD releases them next week.[Via Xbox-Scene]
A handy chart for Next Gen warfare
If you invest much of your time in tracking the current leader of the "Next Gen" console wars, we have a new toy for you. NexGen Wars is a website designed exclusively to track the sales numbers of the three next gen consoles. Unsurprisingly, the Xbox 360 is currently in the lead with 7,112,165 consoles sold (still hoping for 10 million this year, MS?), Wii is in second with 661,881, and the PS3's supply woes peg it at third place with 258,218. We have no idea where these numbers came from, and the website gives no sources, but right now things are looking great for the curvy white box. However, beyond the simple tracking of sales numbers, the site also allows users to vote on which will win. As of this post, Wii is in the lead with 52.7% of the vote, followed by 360 at %29, and PS3 with 18%.Is any of this accurate? Who knows, but it will undoubtedly give fuel to many a fanboy fire. Will it become the IMDB of videogame geeks, ending arguments on the spot? Only time will tell.[Thanks, Justin U]
