Wii regains US next-gen console arena leadership
Xbox 360 sales plunged in October
Microsoft's Xbox 360, having enjoyed enhanced demand on the back of Halo 3, last month fell back behind Nintendo's Wii in the US monthly sales charts.
So the latest figures from local market watcher NPD show. In September, Xbox 360 sales totalled 527,800 units, taking it ahead of the Wii, which racked up sales of 501,000 consoles. Last month, however, the two consoles' sales totalled, respectively, 366,00 and 519,000.
So the Wii's US sales continue on upward trajectory impeded only in August, when they dipped just below the anticipated figure as Xbox 360 sales leapt up.
US Next-gen Console Sales
Figures in thousands
Source: NPD
Interestingly, October's sudden decline in Xbox 360 sales doesn't appear to have benefitted either Nintendo or Sony. As the chart, based on NPD numbers relayed by Xbit Labs, Wii sales have been rising slowly month after month, and there's no sudden leap as Xbox 360 sales fall.
Likewise, October PS3 sales were up slightly on September's total, but it's clear the success of the Xbox 360 of late has not expanded the market as a whole, only Microsoft's numbers.
All eyes are now on November, with the impact of Wii shortages becoming more keenly felt and the arrival of Sony's 40GB PS3 and its cheaper 80GB model - both of which have helped it briefly outsell the Wii in Japan.
The November numbers will also confirm or expose Sony's claim to have seen explosive growth in US PS3 sales over the last week or so.
COMMENTS
WII is the ONLY next gen console
The Wii is the only next gen console out of the three, because it's the only one that has shifted away from 'more of the same but bigger/faster' and actually created a new way of doing things.
@ Stewart Knight
"Games.... not gimics!"
IIRC it wasn't so long ago that the Sony fanboys were accusing the DS and it's touch screen of being a 'gimmick' - and how the PSP and it's 'real games' were going the wipe the floor with it...
Do you knuckle-dragging idiots never learn?
@ For the last time: Not a competitor?
"The Wii is NOT a designed to be competitor for either M$ or Sony. The race is between M$ and Sony and not anything to do with Nintendo"
Vernon Lloyd
Lets check a few facts.
XBOX360 = games console.
Playstation 3 = games console.
Wii = games console.
Certainly looks like it is a competitor to me. The Wii is thrashing the XBOX360 and Playstation3 in number of "consoles" sold no matter how you try and spin it. You truly are deluding yourself if you believe it has nothing to do with Nintendo.
Next gen, who cares
You guys, it's just based on release date. Wii, Xbox 360, and PS3 are the current generation of consoles. Doesn't anyone remember when N64 was 'next gen'.
Just buy the one that has games that you enjoy playing.
