DEC. 15 | The media spotlight may have been on the recent introductions of the PlayStation 3 and the Wii, but consumers opened their wallets wide to buy Xbox 360s, PS2s, Nintendo DSs and Sony PlayStation Portables during November. Each of the platforms more than doubled their unit sales in October, with 663,000 PS2s; 511,000 Xbox 360s; and 920,000 DSs sold through during November, according to NPD Funworld data.
The PS3 launched on Nov. 17, with the Wii following two days later. Due to nagging supply problems, Sony Computer Entertainment of America was able to ship only 195,000 units of its new console in November, with dealers selling every one of them.
With a much better manufacturing situation, Nintendo of America saw retail sales of 476,000 units.
According to Michael Pachter, managing director of research at Wedbush Morgan Securities, consumers have accepted that the PS3 and the Wii will be hard to get during the holidays.
“Consumers appear willing to purchase compelling content for current-generation consoles in spite of the November launches of the PS3 and Wii, driving monthly sales higher,” Pachter said. “Accordingly, we expect only modest declines in current-generation software sales over the next four months.”
PS3 shipments are expected to improve through the end of December and early 2007 but only marginally. SCEA senior director of corporate communications David Karraker said the company is still aiming to ship 1 million units in the U.S. by Dec. 31, but he admits the supply situation is of an “immediate” nature that precludes estimates of weekly stock availability.
Larry Probst, chief executive of the world’s largest videogame publisher, Electronic Arts, told the Reuters News Service on Nov. 29 that he expects Sony will actually ship between 500,000 and 800,000 total units to the U.S. by Dec. 31.
Consumers might keep the Wii scarce as well, but dealers can expect re-supply of Nintendo’s new system to be steady. NOA senior VP of marketing George Harrison told VB that new shipments of Wiis will continue arriving weekly through December and into the new year.
“We will be in stock coming out of the holidays,” Harrison said. “We won’t leave retailers hanging.”
Harrison wouldn’t say how many Wii units U.S. dealers will receive by Dec. 31. However, Lazard Capital Markets senior analyst Colin Sebastian estimated in a research note on Nov. 21 that Nintendo will ship between 150,000 and 200,000 Wiis a week during December.
Meanwhile, through November, it appears that at least 42,000 Xbox 360 HD DVD drives have sold at retail, according to NPD. However, that might not include all retailer feedback. Microsoft has not officially released sales figures on the HD DVD drives.Susanne Ault contributed to this report.
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