Thursday, February 14, 2008

January NPD

Full analysis on Monday, but here are the numbers (thanks Kotaku):
Wii - 274,000
PlayStation 3 - 269,000
Xbox 360 - 230,000

A few quick observations.
--that is a HORRIBLE month. Combined unit sales of 773,000 in a four-week reporting period are flat compared to combined sales of 974,000 in a five-week period last year. Zero growth from last year overall, and that's with the 360 and PS3 both available at a lower price.
--PS3 did well in terms of comparison to Nintendo and Microsoft, but both were supply-constrained. It's to Sony's credit that they aren't--I don't care if they're drowning in inventory, it still means people can walk in and buy a PS3 whenever they want.
--it's obvious that Microsoft "addressed" the inventory issues this week with the NPD's in mind. And their explanation that demand surprised them during the holidays is totally ridiculous. Like I said, something's going on there.
--with no Wii's available and the sales number so low, it means Nintendo did a very poor job of supply in January.

Why do I think those numbers are so poor? Look at January sales for the PS2 in comparison:
2002 - 350,000
2003 - 440,000
2004 - 340,000
2005 - 490,000
2006 - 270,000
2007 - 299,000

None of the next-gen systems are even at their midpoint in terms of lifespan, but they're selling like the PS2 on the downside. Ouch.

Like I said, full analysis on Monday.

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