Nintendo: Wii Tops 34m, DS Tops 47m in the USA through 2010
by Jacob Mazel, posted on 04 January 2011 / 2,276 Views
Nintendo had just announced that according to its internal data, Wii has sold over 7m units in the United States in December, bringing the lifetime base of the system to over 34m units through the end of December. Figures are likely for the 52 weeks ending January 2, 2011. Last year, Nintendo said Wii had sold over 3m units in December in the USA and December, and the figure ended up being closer to 3.8m units, and so "over 34m" should probably be taken to mean anything from 34m - 34.9m really. Specifically, part of Nintendo's January 5, 2010 announcement read:
"Although official U.S. sales data for December and all of 2009 will be announced by the NPD Group on Jan. 14, it appears that U.S. consumers responded enthusiastically to Nintendo's Wii™ home console in December. Nintendo estimates that December sales in the United States will exceed 3 million units."
In theory it should be closer to the lower end of the range, but Nintendo could have said "almost 4m" in December last year, but chose not to. Reaching at least 34m means Nintendo sold over 2.3m Wiis in the USA. Not reaching 35m means Nintendo sold less than 3.3m Wiis in the USA. As NPD had Wii sales at 3.81m in December 2009, most will probably take that realization as further evidence of a Wii decline, and so Nintendo is trying to control messaging here. Nintendo says Wii is the first home console to top 7m units in the USA three years in a row. The data I've collected suggests this is true, as NES did it only for two years, while SNES, PS2 and PS1 only had one year each above 7m units in the USA. Moreover, given the range stated above, Wii in 50 months is at 34m - 35m in the USA, while PS2 reached 34m-35m in months 70-73 in the USA. That is to say in an aligned launch through December 2010, Wii remains 20-23 months ahead of the PS2 pace in the USA market. PS2 did not reach 34m-35m until summer / early Fall 2006 after launching in October 2000. Wii reached 34-35m in December 2010 after launching in November 2006. The range also means Wii sales in the USA (by NPD, since that is what Nintendo will be using) are trending as follows since launch -
2006: 1.08m
2007: 6.29m
2008: 10.16m
2009: 9.59m
2010: 7m - 8m (given 35m > Wii Sales > 34m by end of 2010, and 2.3m needed to reach 34m in 2010)
For the DS, Nintendo says the base is now over 47m units in the United States. Given the figures through November, this means DS also sold at least 2.2m in December, but less than 3.2m, given that Nintendo did not say the base was over 48m. That means DS sold 8.2m to 9.2m units in the USA in 2010. It is the fourth year in a row DS has topped 8m units in the USA, easily a record for any USA system. DS is now the best selling system of all time in the USA, as PS2 sales should be right about 46m units in the USA through December. The DS continues to set records in the USA, as reaching 47m-48m took only 74 months, while PS2 is 1-2m units less over 122 months. No other system is even that close, with NES, PS1, GBA, GB and others dying out around 30m-40m units in the USA, and Wii still 12-13m off the pace lifetime.
Contact VGChartz at jmazel@vgchartz.com
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NINTENDO DS AND WII SET NEW U.S. SALES RECORDS IN 2010
Nintendo DS Becomes All-Time Best-Selling Video Game System; Wii Sells More Than 7 Million for Third Consecutive Year
REDMOND, Wash., Jan. 4, 2011 - The close of 2010 produced two sales milestones for Nintendo in the United States.
According to Nintendo's internal sales figures, the Nintendo DS™ family of portable video game systems has sold more than 47 million in the United States since the original model launched in November 2004. That tally makes Nintendo DS the nation's best-selling video game system of all time.
For the second major milestone of 2010, Nintendo's internal figures show that the Wii™ home console marked its third consecutive calendar year with U.S. sales of more than 7 million - a feat never before accomplished in the history of video games by a home console. To date, the Wii system has sold more than 34 million in the United States alone.
"When we look back at 2010, we see consumers time and again turning to the value and enjoyment of our products," said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. "When we look ahead to 2011, we see new portable technology and more great Wii games that need to be seen to be believed."
Nintendo is set to release its new Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system in the United States in March. The portable system lets players see 3D content - without the need for special glasses. More details about the system will be announced in the future.
