Handhelds dominate Japanese pre-Xmas console sales
DS rules the roost
Nintendo's DS Lite continues to dominate the attention of Japanese consumers, notching up ever increasing weekly sales through the past four pre-Christmas weeks - even as Sony's PSP pushed ahead of Nintendo's other star, the Wii.
According to figures from Japanese market watcher Media Create, some 222,132 DS Lites were purchased in the week to 16 December, well ahead of all the other key games consoles.
The Wii's 170,558 units continued that platform's growth pattern, but weren't sufficient to allow it to once again outsell the PSP, which jumped back into second place thanks to sales of 184,610 units.
Japanese Console Sales
Source: Media Create
Indeed, total up the sales for the four weeks covered here and the PSP leads the Wii, 425,744 units to 414,741. The DS' total is 631,672.
The PS3, meanwhile, saw is sales bounce back after a slide over the past few weeks, but it's still nowhere near matching the demand the Wii is experiencing, let along the PSP and DS Lite.
Sony's old PS2 continues to sell steady numbers, picking up from last week's dip almost equal and opposite to the rise and then drop in demand for Microsoft's Xbox 360 over the same period.
In the West, we may like to line the Wii, PS3 and Xbox 360 up against each other, but in Japan the Microsoft machine is perhaps viewed more as the PS2's prime competitor.
COMMENTS
result of product design?
it was interesting, that's for sure. nobody ever mentions how much failure rates for the ds affect sales but i've heard my fair share of stories so i'd bet it's reasonably high. of course, the low entry price makes it easier both to get in and to replace but... well, i think design also greatly affects product success. ps2 was aesthetically pleasing and dominated the global market (compare to: fugly black and green xbox and purple barney murse gamecube). ds looks remarkably like a miniaturized version of the black Asus Eee PC which has (evidently) been selling out as well. hmmmmm....
@DS sales.
Excellent post.
It does explain a lot. The big consoles are put somewhere safe while the DS gets knocked about by kids.
DS sales.
I have three kids*. The DS sales market works like this:
1) kid gets DS.
2) kid plays DS.
3) kid breaks DS.
4) harrassed parent buys new DS**.
Repeat 1-4 ad. infinitum. No wonder the things sell so well, every sale adds to the exponential curve of resales. I wonder how much of the world's landfill is DSs these days?
* Run three cycles of 1-4, out-of-sync, in parallel.
** 'cos after you've paid the postage and the fix cost and put up with a couple of months of junior histrionics while Nintendo get off their fat arses and fix it once, you never do it again.
I remember
A blog where the microsoft guy goes into the games shop and asks for a 360 and the teller threw him out of the shop lol.
Sadly I can't remember where it was but it was xbox360 launch time.
Anyway it's what we'd expect, you're not gonna spend £400 (90,000 yen) on someone elses present! Well maybe a first car, PC for uni, you know, serious life purchases parents get there kids as coming of age gifts. Besides all the seasons anime is coming out on DVD, new figures, new arcade games, there are important things to buy for many of the people who'd get the ps3. lol.
Best I ever got was a bike and that was £120 couldn't ride the thing though.
