Weekly Analysis, 28 August 2010 - DS, X360 at the top - Wii Rises

Overview – Wii and PSP saw an increase in sales week on week, while all other systems are down. The Xbox 360 is now the only system up year on year as the PS3 received a massive boost one year ago due to a price drop on the old model and some retailers releasing the PS3 Slim a week early. Week on week software sales are up for the Wii, Xbox 360 and PSP while down for the PlayStation 3 and DS.

Worldwide Hardware – Week on week sales saw a rise on the Wii and PSP and a drop for all other systems. The Wii increased due to a $50 price cut at Target for old models dubbed ‘Wii Legacy’ that do not include Wii Sports Resort and Wii Motion Plus. The PSP saw an increase due to the release of MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura (PSP) in Japan. Xbox 360 sales appear to be stabilizing as the week on week drop continues to decrease. Expect sales to remain around 200,000 for a couple more weeks, and then sales will pick up as Halo Reach the biggest X360 exclusive to date will be released. Expect the PlayStation 3 to see a minor boost when Move is released in 2 weeks. Hardware will start to pick up as the holidays draw near.

Year on year sales are down for every system expect for the Xbox 360. The PlayStation 3 is down 10% due to the price cut of the ‘fat’ model from $400 to $300 and a few retailers in America releasing the PS3 Slim a week early. Expect PS3 to remain down for the rest of the year, except for the week when Gran Turismo 5 is released. The Wii is down only 1,000 as it received a boost this week. Handhelds continue to track 30% lower than a year ago.

During the last 10 weeks of home console sales the Xbox 360 has outperformed its rivals as the 360S continues to push sales. After 2 months of Wii and PS3 sales being within 20,000 of each other, the Wii sees a boost of 30,000 with a $50 price cut on older models at Target. Expect sales to drop slightly next week as Target sells out the older models.

Worldwide Software – four games debuted in the top 20 on the week. MonHun Nikki: Poka Poka Ailu Mura (PSP) debuts at number 1 with sales of 268,000 in Japan. Mafia II for the Xbox 360 debuts at number 2 with sales of 187,000 and the PlayStation 3 version debuts at number 3 with sales of 166,000. Ace Combat: Joint Assault (PSP) debuts at number 12 with sales of 58,000.

Two other games debuted in the top 50. Mafia II for the PC debuts at number 25 with sales of 35,000. Hakuouki: Zuisouroku Portable (PSP) the only other debut in the top 50 sold 20,000 at number 36.

Rounding out the top 10 at positions four through seven are Wii Sports with sales of 152,000, Wii Sports Resort with sales of 111,000, Madden NFL 11 for the X360 with sales of 98,000, and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty (PC) with sales of 92,000. At positions eight through ten are Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) with sales of 86,000, Madden NFL 11 for the PS3 with sales of 79,000, and Wii Fit Plus with sales of 62,000.

Overall software sales are a mix week on week. The Wii, Xbox 360 and PSP are up 6%, 15%, and 88% respectively. The PS3 and DS are down 7% and 4% respectively.

Year on year software sales are down for all systems except for the PSP which saw a rise of 30%. The PS3 is down 4%, the Wii is down 12%, the X360 is down 10% and the DS is down 23%.

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