Official NPD December Sales Figures

[Hetz]

Discuss...

 
From GAF:

Sales up 28%

Courtesy of NPD

HW Sales (month and LTD)
Nintendo DS 1.6 mm 9.2 mm
PS2 1.4 mm 37.1 mm
GBA 850.7 K 35.1 mm
Xbox 360 1.1 mm 4.5 mm
Wii 604.2 K 1.1 mm
PSP 953.2 K 6.7 mm
PS3 490.7 K 687.3 K

Top 10 Video Games - December 2006
360 GEARS OF WAR - MICROSOFT 815.7 K
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - ACTIVISION 805.2 K
PS2 MADDEN NFL 07 - ELECTRONIC ARTS 737.1 K
GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 532.9 K
WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 519.2 K
PS2 WWE SMACKDOWN VS. RAW 2007 - THQ 484.5 K
NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS - NINTENDO 427.5 K
360 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 410.8 K
NDS YOSHI'S ISLAND 2 - NINTENDO 407.2 K
PS2 CALL OF DUTY 3 - ACTIVISION 365.3 K

Top 10 Video Games - Annual 2006
PS2 MADDEN NFL 07 - ELECTRONIC ARTS 2.8 mm
NDS NEW SUPER MARIO BROS - NINTENDO 2.0 mm
360 GEARS OF WAR - MICROSOFT 1.8 mm
PS2 KINGDOM HEARTS II - SQUARE ENIX 1.7 mm
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - ACTIVISION 1.3 mm
PS2 FINAL FANTASY XII - SQUARE ENIX 1.3 mm
NDS BRAIN AGE: TRAIN YOUR BRAIN - NINTENDO 1.1mm
360 MADDEN NFL 07 - ELECTRONIC ARTS 1.1mm
360 TOM CLANCY'S GRAW - UBISOFT 1.0 mm
PS2 NCAA FOOTBALL 07- ELECTRONIC ARTS 1.0 mm


Top 10 Titles - December 2006 INCLUDES ALL PLATFORMS (consoles and portables)
Madden NFL 07 - Electronic Arts 1.9 mm
Call Of Duty 3 - Activision 1.1 mm
Cars - THQ 874.0 k
Need for Speed: Carbon - Electronic Arts 871.6 k
360 GEARS OF WAR - MICROSOFT 815.7 K
PS2 GUITAR HERO 2 W/GUITAR - ACTIVISION 805.2 K
Lego Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy - LucasArts 792.3 K
WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2007 - THQ 731.6 K
Tony Hawk's Project 8 - Activision 713.9 K
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance - Activision 642.9 K


Top 10 Accessory Items - December 2006 Units
360 WIRELESS CONTROLLER 823.8 k
WII REMOTE CONTROLLER 646.7 k
WII NUNCHUK CONTROLLER 497.1 k
PS2 8 MEG MEMORY CARD 474.8 k
PS3 SIXAXIS WIRELESS CONTROLLER 336.0 k
PS2 MEMORY CARD 8 MEG 286.0 k
PS2/PS DUAL SHOCK2 CONTL 263.4 k
PS2/PS BLUE DL SH2 CNTL 245.2 k
360 PLAY & CHARGE KIT 224.6 k
PS2 CORDLESS ACTION CNTLR 219.9 k




 

[Hetz]

My thoughts:

Holy crap at the PS2 #'s! Seriously...wow. Same with the DS.

Underwhelming: PS3 and Wii. I thought that the Wii would be close to the 360 in terms of sales for the month...but Nintendo just couldn't ship enough.

The 360 had a good month, but needs to do much better this coming year if it wants to pull ahead and win this.

[gellar]

GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 532.9 K
WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 519.2 K

Holy crap... that's a LOT of GCN software sales.  More than the Wii even.  Total shock.  I bet that Zelda sold more Cube software than every other release for the system COMBINED in 06.

gellar

[Calvin]

(Lets all remember to just discuss normally and enjoy, no need to get this locked  )

Well, it says four things to me:
1. The PS2 is still shockingly dominant. I wouldn't entirely be surprised to see one of this gen consoles assume that role in 5 years or so, and my money is heavily on the 360 and Wii in that role.
2. The Wii has been suprisingly dominant in the two console race between it and the PS3. The bottom line is that the Wii is selling exceptionally well and has impressive market penetration so far.
3. The 360 is doing better than we thought it would. It has excellent representation in the top games for a console with a relatively small install base (I know, 10 million, but nothing beats 75 million ps2s to sell individual games), and in terms of hardware, selling 1.1 million was a good showing and helped push them up around that 10 million mark. They have kept their lead, and have been impressive with games and support.
4. The ps3 is struggling. Not for lack of being an outstanding machine. It looks cool, the games look good, the bluray player is a great addition, but I think that Sony missed the mark delivering so few to retail and then struggled to catch up once the Wii's popularity and the 360's cheaper price point made it difficult to justify buying it once they became available.

[Hetz]

2. The Wii has been suprisingly dominant in the two console race between it and the PS3. The bottom line is that the Wii is selling exceptionally well and has impressive market penetration so far.

Honestly, people were thinking the Wii would vastly outsell the PS3 this December. They ended up being only about 100k apart. That is very suprising considering that the PS3 costs so much more than the Wii.

The PS3 was right in line with analysts predictions, so was the 360. The Wii though, fell short, but that was probabily due to Nintendo dropping the ball on getting them into stores.

[Calvin]

2. The Wii has been suprisingly dominant in the two console race between it and the PS3. The bottom line is that the Wii is selling exceptionally well and has impressive market penetration so far.

Honestly, people were thinking the Wii would vastly outsell the PS3 this December. They ended up being only about 100k apart. That is very suprising considering that the PS3 costs so much more than the Wii.

The PS3 was right in line with analysts predictions, so was the 360. The Wii though, fell short, but that was probabily due to Nintendo dropping the ball on getting them into stores.

I was unaware of that Hetz-I actually just looked at the numbers sort of blank on Wii info (you know how much I care about the Wii ) but with background info on the other two consoles, and just based on that, the numbers looked impressive. If the projections were much higher and they missed it at a 350$ cheaper price point than the PS3+(my name for the 60gig), then that is a surprising disappointment.

[Kevin Grey]

GCN LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 532.9 K
WII LEGEND OF ZELDA: TWILIGHT PRINCESS - NINTENDO 519.2 K

Holy crap... that's a LOT of GCN software sales.  More than the Wii even.  Total shock.  I bet that Zelda sold more Cube software than every other release for the system COMBINED in 06.

gellar

The insane part is Zelda's attach rate on Wii- total Zelda sales on the Wii are in the realm of 1.0 million which is amazing considering an instal base of 1.1 million. 

But, yeah, that Cube Zelda number is incredible as well.  That brings Zelda's total sales over 1.5 million already- it's going to blow away what Wind Waker did (approx 2.5 million) and may approach (but not exceed) Ocarina of Time's 4 million. 

[Kevin Grey]

On the Wii sales- I don't think yoiu can make any solid determination.  It was obviously incredibly supply constrained (and still is) so we realy don't know what the upper ceiling was there.  Judging by continuing buzz, however, I think they may do pretty well with post holiday sales while the PS3 and it's $600 price tag is going to be way too much for most immediately after spending all of that holiday money. 

[unbreakable]

Holy shit, I had no idea there were almost as many GBA's out there as PS2's  :icon_eek:

[Kevin Grey]

3. The 360 is doing better than we thought it would. It has excellent representation in the top games for a console with a relatively small install base (I know, 10 million, but nothing beats 75 million ps2s to sell individual games), and in terms of hardware, selling 1.1 million was a good showing and helped push them up around that 10 million mark. They have kept their lead, and have been impressive with games and support.

FWIW, they've shipped 10 million, not sold.  Most reasonable estimates I've seen put the actual consumer install base at around 8-8.5 million. 

[Andrew Mallon]

3. The 360 is doing better than we thought it would. It has excellent representation in the top games for a console with a relatively small install base (I know, 10 million, but nothing beats 75 million ps2s to sell individual games), and in terms of hardware, selling 1.1 million was a good showing and helped push them up around that 10 million mark. They have kept their lead, and have been impressive with games and support.

FWIW, they've shipped 10 million, not sold.  Most reasonable estimates I've seen put the actual consumer install base at around 8-8.5 million. 

If the 360's only sold 4.5 million in the US (as indicated in the LTD figures), it's hard to imagine the WW numbers being over 8 million.

[Space Herpes]

2. The Wii has been suprisingly dominant in the two console race between it and the PS3. The bottom line is that the Wii is selling exceptionally well and has impressive market penetration so far.

Honestly, people were thinking the Wii would vastly outsell the PS3 this December. They ended up being only about 100k apart. That is very suprising considering that the PS3 costs so much more than the Wii.

The PS3 was right in line with analysts predictions, so was the 360. The Wii though, fell short, but that was probabily due to Nintendo dropping the ball on getting them into stores.

Well, the Wii decided to do a world release, where the Sony decided to skip Europe and short changed Japan.  It definately helped with the number of PS3's in the US.  However, world total sales numbers for PS3 vs 360 vs Wii aren't so close.  I really wish Nintendo had been able to get more Wii's out, but they did manage to ship 4 million world wide.  Still, domestically it's annoying that I can't actually get one.

[Hetz]

[pr0ner]

Hetz, just to pick nits, why isn't Zelda listed on the top 10 list across all platforms?  The Cube + Wii versions clearly sold more than a mil.  Was that an omission on your end, or from where you got your data?

[Kevin Grey]

I really wish Nintendo had been able to get more Wii's out, but they did manage to ship 4 million world wide.  Still, domestically it's annoying that I can't actually get one.

Very doubtful they hit their target of 4 million- 1 million sold in Japan, 1.1 million in the US, less than 1 million in Europe.  They probably hit in the realm of 3 million.

Anyone who snagged a brand new Wii in the last week or two know if the have already started switching out the wrist straps?  I've seen speculation that they may have pulled a bunch of Wiis prior to shipping to replace the straps at the last minute and that might be whey they missed their ship goal.  After all, there really aren't any troublesome components in the Wii that could otherwise explain missing their ship target. 

[Kevin Grey]

Hetz, just to pick nits, why isn't Zelda listed on the top 10 list across all platforms?  The Cube + Wii versions clearly sold more than a mil.  Was that an omission on your end, or from where you got your data?

Data was officially provided by NPD.  Either it's an oversight or they don't consider it the same as other multiplatform titles for some reason. 

[The Grue]

Honestly, people were thinking the Wii would vastly outsell the PS3 this December. They ended up being only about 100k apart. That is very suprising considering that the PS3 costs so much more than the Wii.

The PS3 was right in line with analysts predictions, so was the 360. The Wii though, fell short, but that was probabily due to Nintendo dropping the ball on getting them into stores.

Add November's numbers in and tell me if the Wii fell short.  Also factor in worldwide sales.  The PS3/Wii race is not as close as you think it is.

[ATB]

one POINT six MILLION DSes?!

Hola Cow!

[Hetz]

Honestly, people were thinking the Wii would vastly outsell the PS3 this December. They ended up being only about 100k apart. That is very suprising considering that the PS3 costs so much more than the Wii.

The PS3 was right in line with analysts predictions, so was the 360. The Wii though, fell short, but that was probabily due to Nintendo dropping the ball on getting them into stores.

Add November's numbers in and tell me if the Wii fell short.  Also factor in worldwide sales.  The PS3/Wii race is not as close as you think it is.

This was the Wii's big shot. They needed a very strong December. They didn't get it, due to whatever reason. This isn't about the PS3/Wii, no matter how much you want to make it into that and start a fight. My post was about the Wii not shipping enough to meet expectations. I'm not going to get into a pissing match on the Wii vs the PS3. Both are great systems and will do well. Who will win, well you know what I think, but nobody really knows for sure.

[Hetz]

Hetz, just to pick nits, why isn't Zelda listed on the top 10 list across all platforms?  The Cube + Wii versions clearly sold more than a mil.  Was that an omission on your end, or from where you got your data?

It wasn't an omission on my end. I just copy and pasted everything.

[Space Herpes]

I really wish Nintendo had been able to get more Wii's out, but they did manage to ship 4 million world wide.  Still, domestically it's annoying that I can't actually get one.

Very doubtful they hit their target of 4 million- 1 million sold in Japan, 1.1 million in the US, less than 1 million in Europe.  They probably hit in the realm of 3 million.

3 million, 4 million.  What's a million between friends?  

Still.  They shipped a whole lotta console, world wide.  Damn it.  I want one.

[Devil]

NiM$

[pr0ner]

Hetz, just to pick nits, why isn't Zelda listed on the top 10 list across all platforms?  The Cube + Wii versions clearly sold more than a mil.  Was that an omission on your end, or from where you got your data?

It wasn't an omission on my end. I just copy and pasted everything.

No worries.  Was simply curious.  Thanks!

[TheMissingLink]

Go go PSP!

[Doopri]

i had no clue kingdom hearts was such a popular title - was i the only one surprised by that?

[Kevin Grey]

i had no clue kingdom hearts was such a popular title - was i the only one surprised by that?

Not me.  It's a monster franchise now.  KH1 has outsold every single FF title in the US now with the possible exception FF7 and I believe it's actually outsold even that one. 

[Kevin Grey]

Go go PSP!

Too bad about those software sales though- maybe all of these people buying the hardward could do Sony a favor and buy some software too. 

[Space Herpes]

I have to wonder, with all these new PS2 sales, how long will developers continue making games for it?  I'm betting a lot of developers are making the switch to the new generation.  I wonder if they might be re-thinking that?  Funny.  The PS2 could be the big winner of the "next-gen" console wars.  Apparently, new graphics aren't all that important.

[denoginizer]

Personally I think Nintendo is blowing it.  The buzz for the Wii will never be higher than it is right now.  I don't understand why they haven't been able to ship more units in the US. Also I still think Sony is in big trouble with the PS3, but it appears the PS2 will carry them for the forseeable future anyway.

[Calvin]

Wow, staggering for Nintendo-but completely honestly, considering that Microsoft has ONE viable product, that is a pretty nice chunk of the pie.

[denoginizer]

I have to wonder, with all these new PS2 sales, how long will developers continue making games for it?  I'm betting a lot of developers are making the switch to the new generation.  I wonder if they might be re-thinking that?  Funny.  The PS2 could be the big winner of the "next-gen" console wars.  Apparently, new graphics aren't all that important.

I think you might see alot of PS2/Wii games beging developed in tandem during the next year.  If I were a smaller developer that's where I would focus my efforts.

[Calvin]

3. The 360 is doing better than we thought it would. It has excellent representation in the top games for a console with a relatively small install base (I know, 10 million, but nothing beats 75 million ps2s to sell individual games), and in terms of hardware, selling 1.1 million was a good showing and helped push them up around that 10 million mark. They have kept their lead, and have been impressive with games and support.

FWIW, they've shipped 10 million, not sold.  Most reasonable estimates I've seen put the actual consumer install base at around 8-8.5 million. 

I was under the impression Peter Moore explicitly stated sold not shipped at CES?

[Tebunker]

Microsoft is still using the sold=shipped formula that these companies use. Only recently has Sony started to get away from that.

Oh yeah, I don't think Wii hitting 4 million is too far fetched. These numbers are for the United States only. My understanding is that Canada and Mexico represent some 500k to 600k units sold combined. We know that the Wii is over a million in Japan, but we know next to nothing with regards to PAL territories.

I think Nintendo hit their numbers for the most part, but I didn't expect them to have such big issues keeping stock in the stores.

[Kevin Grey]

3. The 360 is doing better than we thought it would. It has excellent representation in the top games for a console with a relatively small install base (I know, 10 million, but nothing beats 75 million ps2s to sell individual games), and in terms of hardware, selling 1.1 million was a good showing and helped push them up around that 10 million mark. They have kept their lead, and have been impressive with games and support.

FWIW, they've shipped 10 million, not sold.  Most reasonable estimates I've seen put the actual consumer install base at around 8-8.5 million. 

I was under the impression Peter Moore explicitly stated sold not shipped at CES?

To a company shipped=sold.  MS has sold those consoles to retailers once they leave MS warehouses so they can legally claim 10.4 million 360s sold without running afoul of the SEC or their shareholders.

EDIT- Tebunker beat me to it. 

[CrayolaSmoker]

Anyone who snagged a brand new Wii in the last week or two know if the have already started switching out the wrist straps?  I've seen speculation that they may have pulled a bunch of Wiis prior to shipping to replace the straps at the last minute and that might be whey they missed their ship goal.  After all, there really aren't any troublesome components in the Wii that could otherwise explain missing their ship target.

They have. The Wiimote that came with my Wii (snagged last Tuesday by my wife) has a significantly thicker attachment strap than the three Wiimotes I got the same day the recall was announced.

Whether they actually recalled inventory I have no idea. Though a Wal-Mart employee did tell me on December 16th that they would be returning their inventory until the strap issue was resolved.

[Tebunker]

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=14940&page=1

good gamedaily article. Good to know that the Wii third party titles are performing better than the Gamecube ones were. Hopefully that can keep up so the system gets DS level support.

[Kevin Grey]

I think Nintendo hit their numbers for the most part, but I didn't expect them to have such big issues keeping stock in the stores.

I think they launched in Europe with about 350k.  That was smaller than both NA and Japanese launches so I doubt Euro numbers are as high as NA and Japan (ie 1-1.5 million). 

I genuinely think they hit a major supply issue, likely the issue with straps.  Consider

1) Resupplies were plentiful in late November/early December.  Stores were having restocks that were comparable to launch quantities (ie 50+).  This boded well for Nintendo keeping strong resupply throughout the season.  But by the second week of December resupplies seemed to dramatically dry up, with stores receving more of a trickle (ie restocks in the single digits).

2) The big planned "relaunch" for the weekend before Christmas.  Early buzz from usually reliable people was that Best Buys would have at least 40 Wiis per store.  But when the day came, that guaranteed 40 per store turned into just 15 and sometimes even less.

3) When Nintendo issued their PR over November's NPD results they had a line promising to ship at least a million Wiis before the end of the year (can't remember if the one million was December only or for the whole launch period).  The PR was recallled and that line was removed, suggesting that Nintendo lacked confidence in being able to make the promised shipped numbers.  The fact that the line was in there at one time and needed to removed indicates to me that circumstances may have changed between the time the PR was drafted and when it was released. 

Again, I suspect that they were unprepared for the strap issues and by the first week of December decided to delay their shipments so they could manufacture thicker straps and then crack open boxes they hadn't sent out yet to replace the straps with the thicker ones.  *If* this occured then I doubt they will ever publicize it since it could be used against them in any class action lawsuits.  I do find it plausible however and I don't think there is any way they made their 4 million target. 

[Kevin Grey]

Anyone who snagged a brand new Wii in the last week or two know if the have already started switching out the wrist straps?  I've seen speculation that they may have pulled a bunch of Wiis prior to shipping to replace the straps at the last minute and that might be whey they missed their ship goal.  After all, there really aren't any troublesome components in the Wii that could otherwise explain missing their ship target.

They have. The Wiimote that came with my Wii (snagged last Tuesday by my wife) has a significantly thicker attachment strap than the three Wiimotes I got the same day the recall was announced.

Whether they actually recalled inventory I have no idea. Though a Wal-Mart employee did tell me on December 16th that they would be returning their inventory until the strap issue was resolved.

Ah, good to know.  Thanks!

[Calvin]

Microsoft is still using the sold=shipped formula that these companies use. Only recently has Sony started to get away from that.

Oh yeah, I don't think Wii hitting 4 million is too far fetched. These numbers are for the United States only. My understanding is that Canada and Mexico represent some 500k to 600k units sold combined. We know that the Wii is over a million in Japan, but we know next to nothing with regards to PAL territories.

I think Nintendo hit their numbers for the most part, but I didn't expect them to have such big issues keeping stock in the stores.

Ahh understood. Thanks for clarification.

[Dante Rising]

Talk about lopsided-

Domestic 360 hardware sales for December: 1.1 million
Japanese 360 hardware sales for December: 99,798

Japan is the second largest video game market in the world and Microsoft just can't gain any real traction there. But consider that until the release of Blue Dragon monthly sales were well below 5,000 units. This sales spike shows that the Japanese audience is not xenophobic or a congregation of people who hate anything foreign- they are merely looking for good games that their culture finds attractive.

Microsoft needs to learn that Japan is not the US or Europe. Japanese gamers don't give a sh!t about xbox Live. 34 of the top 100 selling games in Japan for 2006 were RPGs. (actionRPGs, RPGs or SRPGs) Until they truly start catering to the desires of Japanese gamers, MS will only be a Regional powerhouse.

I really wish I had a better understanding of exactly what software and marketing campaigns MS is releasing in Japan, because they have repeatedly missed the target. And the target isn't small.