Video-Game Sales in U.S. Tumble 8 Percent as Spending on Hardware Dwindles
U.S. sales of video-game hardware, software and accessories fell 8 percent to $1.22 billion in September from a year earlier, researcher NPD Group said.
The results reflect a 19 percent drop in hardware sales, a 6 percent decline in software and a 13 percent gain in accessories on purchases of products such as Sony Corp.’s Move controller, the Port Washington, New York-based researcher said today in an e-mail. Sales of Nintendo Co. hardware tumbled.
Microsoft Corp. separately said it sold 484,000 Xbox 360 consoles during the month, up 37 percent from a year earlier, buoyed by the game “Halo: Reach,” which sold 3.3 million copies in its debut last month. “Halo” is the Redmond, Washington-based company’s most popular franchise.
Nintendo, based in Kyoto, sold 254,000 Wii consoles and 403,000 Nintendo DS handhelds during the month, the company’s U.S. unit said in an e-mailed statement. A year earlier, Nintendo sold 462,800 Wii consoles and 524,200 DS handhelds.
Sony didn’t report sales of its PlayStation3. During the month, the Tokyo-based company introduced the “Move”, resembling Wii’s motion-activated wand, with a price of $49.99.
NPD announced Oct. 12 that it would no longer break out unit sales of consoles by manufacturer. Instead, it reported total hardware revenue fell to $383 million from $472 million a year earlier.
To contact the reporter on this story: Cliff Edwards in San Francisco at cedwards28@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Palazzo at apalazzo@bloomberg.net
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