Xbox 360, Wii Far Outsell PS3 in November Despite PlayStation Move

U.S. PS3 sales disappointed in November despite the new, heavily-promoted PlayStation Move motion-sensing control system, as the Xbox 360 and Wii far outsold Sony’s console, NPD’s data showed. The Nintendo DS was the month’s best-selling system, moving more than 1.5 million units. That was despite some analysts predicting the portable system could struggle ahead of the March introduction of the 3DS.

The DS’s November performance was a huge improvement over the more than 342,000 sold in October this year (CED Nov 18 p4), but 11 percent weaker than the 1.7 million sold in November 2009 (CED Dec 14/09 p6). The new red SKU was the best-selling model, while the lower-cost white model came in at No. 2, said NPD analyst Anita Frazier. “It appears the DS attracted two pockets of consumers: Those looking for a unique limited-edition product and those looking for value.” A total of about 44.9 million DS systems across all SKUs have been sold in the U.S. to date.

Sony Computer Entertainment America was the only one of the three hardware makers to not specify how many systems it sold in November, and NPD no longer provides monthly hardware unit sales data to reporters. An industry source who received the data said PS3 sales tumbled 25 percent from November 2009 to about 530,000 units, despite improving from the 250,000 sold in October 2010. Its U.S. installed base inched up to about 14 million -- still far behind the No. 1 Wii and No. 2 Xbox 360. Sony’s PSP continued to struggle in the U.S., as November sales dipped 2 percent from November 2009 to about 288,000. PSP sales improved from the approximately 73,000 sold in October.

Microsoft said the 1.37 million Xbox 360s it sold in November allowed the system to be the No. 1 home console in the U.S. for the sixth straight month. The 360’s sales were a 68 percent improvement over the 819,500 sold in November 2009 and a 323 percent improvement over the 325,000 sold this October. Its U.S. installed base grew to about 24 million.

The 360 represented more than 40 percent of total U.S. game industry sales for the month, “driven by the successful launch of Microsoft’s Kinect,” said Frazier. Xbox 360 accessories accounted for 60 percent of total accessory revenue for the month, with the Kinect sensor finishing as the No. 1 accessory its first month available, she said. Five of the top 10 accessories were for the 360 in November, she said. About 50 percent of the 360 consoles sold in November were bundled with the Kinect sensor, while only about 20 percent of the PS3s sold were bundled with a Move controller, the industry source said.

The Wii had a significant comeback in November, much like the overall U.S. game industry, after struggling for much of this year like the overall sector. The more than 1.2 million Wiis that Nintendo of America said it sold last month were about the same number as it sold in November 2009 and a huge improvement over the 232,000 sold this October. Likely contributing to the Wii’s strong performance was the console’s inclusion in many heavily-promoted Black Friday retail promotions. Nintendo’s systems typically perform especially well during the holiday season, in part due to their lower pricing compared to rival systems and their appeal to younger gamers. The Wii’s U.S. installed base improved to about 31.9 million.

"A big jump in sales” for videogame systems is to be expected in November “due to seasonality,” said Frazier. But she said the improvement in sales from October to November this year was “bigger across most platforms than it was last November,” which “could point to the impact of aggressive retail promotions during the critical Black Friday week."

Overall U.S. game industry sales grew 8 percent in November from a year earlier to $2.99 billion, NPD said. The data included sales of all interactive games sold in the physical retail channel, including PC, console and portable titles, as well as hardware and accessories. Total hardware sales inched up 2 percent to $1.08 billion. Videogame sales for consoles and handheld systems, not including PC titles, grew 4 percent to $1.46 billion. Overall physical game sales, including for PCs, grew 3 percent to $1.5 billion.

Accessory sales jumped 69 percent from a year earlier to $413.3 million, on strong Kinect demand. NPD didn’t say how many Kinect and Move peripherals were sold. About 190,700 of THQ’s new uDraw Gaming Tablet for the Wii were sold in its first month, THQ said Friday, citing NPD data.

Activision’s multi-platform Call of Duty: Black Ops was November’s best-selling game in its first month available. It moved 8.4 million copies in the U.S., making it the best-selling game ever in a launch month, Frazier said. “With only one month of sales, it has become the seventh best-selling game of all time, life-to-date.” The title represented 25 percent of all videogame software units sold in the month, she said.

Sales in the music/dance genre grew 38 percent in units from November 2009, “fueled by” Ubisoft’s Just Dance 2 for the Wii and Dance Central from MTV Games, Frazier said. But revenue in the music category came in well below November 2009. Just Dance 2 was the month’s No. 3 game, behind Ubisoft’s No. 2 Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood for the 360 and PS3. Dance Central didn’t make the top 10. Rounding out the top five were the multi-platform Madden NFL 11 from Electronic Arts and Microsoft’s 360 game Fable III. NPD no longer provides to reporters the sales data for most of the games in the top 10.