September NPD – Xbox 360 crushes PS3, but Wii is big winner
It’s that time of the month again, when all of the predictions go out of the window and we get the official U.S. sales figures from NPD. As expected, the Xbox 360 crushed the PS3 thanks to the recent price cuts, but the Wii is once again the true victor, selling a third more units than it did in August. While Nintendo and Microsoft cheer, Sony is weeping.
Each month we get this roller-coaster ride where we first see the analysts’ predictions, the the real figures, and then the companies’ reactions to them. Surely Sony won’t be able to put a positive spin on this month’ numbers because they truly are awful for the company.
Official NPD Hardware Sales For September (via Gamasutra)
Wii – 687,000
DS – 537,000
Xbox 360 – 347,000
PSP – 238,000
PS3 – 232,000
PS2 – 174,000
The Xbox 360 was always going to have a good month in response to those price cuts across the board, but the level of the victory (115,000 units) over the PS3 has surprised me a little. It also means that Sony is sitting not so pretty in the bottom three places of the hardware rankings. Even if you add the sales of the PSP, PS3, and PS2 together, they still don’t equal the huge amount of Wii’s Nintendo managed to sell last month.
Surely, Sony will heed the message, that price is ultimately a big factor with mainstream consumers, deciding which console to buy. The PS3 may have some great games and a built-in Blu-ray player, but all the while it’s so expensive to purchase, core consumer demographics will stay away.
As for Nintendo, September saw a resurgence in demand for both the Wii and DS. The latter rose from 518k sales in August to 537k in September, while the Wii had an unbelievable jump from 453k to 687k. This is mostly down to supply finally catching up with demand.
Overall though, the games industry experienced its first monthly decline since March, 2006. Video games sales were down 7% on the same period last year, but with the economic situation as it is, that’s not actually that bad a result.
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36 Responses to “September NPD – Xbox 360 crushes PS3, but Wii is big winner”
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October 17th, 2008
Fanboys incoming.
October 17th, 2008
You gotta wonder how they work it all out (Sony).
I suppose if they slash the price, they lose more per console. But if they sell more then they can make more money if more games are sold.
Maybe they figure the current number of ps3 owners is providing enough income at this time.
The problem isn’t just the price tag. If the 360 and ps3 were priced the same, fine. But the PS3 doesn’t have enough HUGE AAA titles to justify the price diff. as it is now. And please PLEASE don’t bring up the ‘value for money’ arg. because its bullshit. I proudly own my ps3, but i didn’t buy it because it was value for money, i got it because i wanted a ps3 – i don’t own or really ever want to own any blu ray titles etc etc.
So if they want to sell, bring out some must have exclusives or cut the price in time for xmas. Heck maybe they are planning to but just don’t want to let the cat out of the bag early.
October 17th, 2008
I kind of expected the 360 to do a bit better than that, especially considering that September was a nothing month for the PS3.
And there is the Wii, still proving that you don’t need games to sell a games console.
-Arvis
October 17th, 2008
We all knew this was going to happen, even my old friend Pachter got it right. October will be interesting, if VG Chartz is anything to go by, 360 will win that month also according to the figures so far.
@ bourne “Fanboys incoming”, you’re as big a fanboy as anyone else here. Some of your more recent stuff is bordering on ‘Ivan_PSP’ levels.
October 17th, 2008
Hairy, im not a fanboy. Im just a passionate gamer.
October 17th, 2008
Oh please, you’re not a fanboy but you always harp on about the RRoD and overheating issues? Sounds like a fanboy to me. If you were a passionate gamer, you would be too busy talking your system up, not putting the other one down.
Face it, you’re what you despise, a fanboy.
October 17th, 2008
Bullshit Hairy, your a hypocrite yourself if you think you dont always put the PS3 down.
October 17th, 2008
DAVE PARRACK,
I believe I read on another site that the 7% decrease in overall sales could be what they called the “Halo Effect”. Due to Halo 3 being released this time last year and no big releases this year you can see where that 7% decrease came from. I’m sure this won’t be a trend even with the ever depressing economy.
October 17th, 2008
Good point Wylie. There was definitely a Halo effect last year so that could be a factor.
I actually think sales will recover over the holiday season with supplies of the Wii finally meeting demand, the Xbox 360 doing well thanks to the price cut and the PS3 picking up due to Home and LittleBigPlanet.
October 17th, 2008
“Supplies of the Wii finally meeting demand”
What makes you think this has happened?
October 17th, 2008
Wow biased=America PLAYSTATION 3 destroy Xbox 360 for more then 6 months and i didn’t see anyone posting monthly articles now that the Xbox 360 catch some minor sales everyone is posting this rap. If PS3 and Xbox 360 had launched the same year and month Sony might had about 26 million PS3 units sold. PS3 is coming strong this holiday. The reason Xbox 360 did so decent it was because of the timed exclusive in Japan and the misleading ads on TV selling empty box with no hard drive no quality no wireless no games no Blu-ray. Stop the favoritism is just LOW. The new Xbox 360 model suffers from the red light also Xbox 360 is trash.
PS3 is still doing great especially Sony selling three consoles. Xbox=hype with no more games.
Dave Parrack and Mike Ferro ban harry sachz i will donate money. He’s the only idiot left here worshiping Xbox 360 i know hes a JOKE…
October 17th, 2008
Buddy i wasn’t talking about but the other Mike. Senior writer: Mike Ferro
October 17th, 2008
Sony has to be a little worried at this point.
With September out of the way and the 360 so cheap, the DS and Wii dominating everything and the Wii likely looking forward to facing shortages again this Christmas…
…Sony is stuck with an expensive console, and the choice to slash the price and lose more money on it or keep it high and face sales like this.
I’m not sure why someone would think supply has caught demand for the Wii. Likely it hasn’t, but we will see with the October sales, I suspect. The dollar has shot up this month, so its not as hard to send consoles to America, which likely means more consoles to buy. If sales go up again for the Wii, we will see that the supply did not reach demand in September.
MS has a problem, as well. NA is where the 360 has to win, and with one model below the price of the Wii, and another close enough to compete, the Wii shouldn’t be doubling up the 360’s sales after a price cut.
I can’t wait to see how the numbers look after LBP. Can it steal some of the Wii’s thunder? Can it sway some of the “hardcore” from the 360?
I just don’t know if its going to matter with the PS3 costing so much. The BR decision is hurting them, badly. Had they used DVD, the PS3 could be half the price and likely ahead of the 360, overall and this month.
October 17th, 2008
Microsoft has been losing more than Sony since 2001. PS3 is gonna be fine this holiday. Xbox 360 only has 1 exclusive that might help them sell more units ears of war 2. Sony littlebigplanet resistance 2 socom confrontation motostorm 2 and many more.
October 17th, 2008
A real core gamer isn’t swayed by price or overall bang for the buck: they play the games they want to play. The PS3 was made for core gamers, but there are not enough core gamers anymore to run the numbers they need. They turned to the PC 5 years ago, and if you keep on top of the PC hardware evolution, your graphical and immersive experience can surpass what consoles have to offer.
I agree, Sony needs to cut the price on the PS3, so that the great unwashed will give it a chance.
October 17th, 2008
Those Fire-sales work wonders.
October 17th, 2008
more people gonna have rrod issues.. when are people going to learn lol… keep your receipt safe, if the law suit holds up in us, u might have a xmas present…
October 17th, 2008
I am pretty upset that I bought my Xbox 360 when I did, I waited in line for 6 hours to get it and paid almost double the price it is now for a smaller hard drive. Then to top it off 4 months later I got red lights on my 360. Microsoft wanted to charge me $150 for the repair plus S/H I was really mad at this point. Lucky thought I found an Xbox repair guide from http://redringxbox360.com and haven’t has a problem since. But I have almost stopped playing my Xbox now and have been playing PS3 constantly, because Xbox made me so angry.
October 18th, 2008
@Bourne:
There’s your fanboy: Ivan_PSP
October 18th, 2008
They are fighting for the casual gamers now. The guyers that take the console sales from 20-30 million to 100 million.
The hard core gamers have dried up now, perhaps there maybe a few million more, but I doubt it. Gears of War, Resistance etc… are not going to be console movers, they will sell millions to the already converted.
So if Sony or Microsoft are going to get anywhere, they will need a cheap console, and games which will pull in people beyond FPS, and Racing games.
October 18th, 2008
Oh, I see….
By “Crush” you mean “outsold by 50%”
But I must comment you, that is a long article to type with only one hand.
October 18th, 2008
Sony is out for just casual gamers there also out for hardcore gamers they want all gamers after all because is business. Microsoft has been having identity issues since 2001. For all those of you who want a cheaper PS3 STFU already you are mad FANBOYS because you can’t get one. 2009……….2009………..2009…………..2009……………PS3
October 18th, 2008
Hey Ivan your last comment made me laugh
“2009……….2009………..2009…………..2009……………PS3″
where does that sound soooo familiar, o yeah, 2008 the year of the ps3…. rolles eyes
October 18th, 2008
2008 was and still is PLAYSTATION 3 year 2009 also. Now 2008 the PS3 sold way better then Xbox. 2008 SCEA has released the most exclusives and the best so STFU. Sony is here to destroy Microsoft like Apple and Google are already doing.
October 18th, 2008
Ivan,
The 360 may not have as many games this holiday season, but a mix of already existing games and price could overcome that.
What one game does the Wii have comming? But Mario, Zelda, Metriod, Brawl, No More Heroes, Mario Kart, etc. are already there, and the price is low enough, so my bet is on it comming in first.
If you want to put your hopes in big games now, would you care to say you think the Wii will come in last this holiday? I certainly wouldn’t mind bookmarking the page and we can see if only big games right now matter when the December NPD is out.
If you’re not willing to say that, you may want to consider the possibility that the PS3 will sell less than the 360 due to existing games and lower price.
October 18th, 2008
Matt:
No cares about Wii…
Xbox 360 sucks i got Fallout 3 for modded system.
PS3 is gonna do great…
October 18th, 2008
“No cares about Wii…”
But all those Mario games sell better than MGS4, which only appeals to geeks anyway.
October 18th, 2008
@ Bourne,
I’m not talking about myself, I am talking about you, stop trying to change the subject. You carry on the way you do, but you claim that you’re not a fanboy. Why not just admit it?
@Ivan,
Go away, idiot.
October 18th, 2008
No one cares about the Wii, no one cares about Mario, Link, Samus, no one likes the casual games that made the PS and PS2 a success, no one cares about hardcore games either.
All anyone cares about is Sony loyalty.
I may say that existing library and price will win the day, but I would be willing to listen to the idea that current releases matter more.
I won’t even consider the idea that the PS3 will do well because Ivan says so.
Sony needs a price cut, period. And there won’t be another Cristmas with lots of games that no one else has unless they can start eatting into the Wii’s lead. Like it or not, the Wii is going to get a heck of a lot of exclusives unless the PS3 or 360 show signs of life this Christmas.
If the PS3 can’t get into homes, Sony will keep losing exclusives, and new exclsuives will go elsewhere, and that leaves fewer people buying the PS3…and less exclusives again.
Sony needs a price cut before the cycle can go on. Losing FF should have sent off alarms like mad, and it probably did. This is a calculated move, most likely, but even if it was, it doesn’t change the fact the PS3 is not selling just fine.
October 18th, 2008
Wii=kids
harry sachz:
Stop being a fucking dick riding piece shit troll, all your gay go straight to the trash.
Matt:
Buy a PS3 then talk.
October 19th, 2008
Ivan_PSP,
Go away, idiot.
October 19th, 2008
Why would I buy a PS3 at the current price?
I use DVD’s, and I don’t plan to upgrade any time soon. There are a few games that look good, but it doesn’t justify the price when I have already bought one console from this gen, and one that gets played daily, at that.
I’ll wait until I can get another console from this gen for $150 or less.
Sony will have a hard time getting me (as will MS for that matter), without a much better price.
I can’t ask mommy for something and get it. Money is important. I won’t get a PS3 so long as its too much money. That is Sony’s problem.
I think someone that HASN’T bought the PS3 partly because of the price has more right to talk about the price problems than someone who did buy it. After all, the person who hasn’t understands the problems, as they stand now. The person that bought it faced that decision a while ago.
October 19th, 2008
The best decision i ever made was buying the PLAYSTATION 3.
October 19th, 2008
Ha ha ha ha ha ha, Ivan is talking that we can’t afford a PS3 and he currently owns only 4 games for his PS3 ??? Ha ha ha ha ha ha, that makes me laugh. I have 21 for my Xbox 360 and 2 from the last Xbox, with what I have spent I could buy 3 PS3s, but I won’t get one until there are games that I like on it. Actually I’m (finally) kinda intrigued about LBP, but I’ll wait to see how it is.
Pobre Dominicano jodido
October 19th, 2008
I have more then just those 4 games on my site. I own 15 PS3 games i just don’t update my site sorry.
jham:
There’s no PS3 games you like yeah sure what ever lmfao. wow
October 21st, 2008
nicely done.
and to think, the real pain for the ps3 doesn’t begin until Nov 7th, when GeOW releases. ouch.
LBP and Home are going to look very mild compared to this blockbuster with HUGE fanbase.
the wii looks to continue their trend but with the price reduction on the 360, the wii could be next to be unseated by the 360…who knows…
oh well…sony’s fault..they wanted bluray and “teh cell”… dumbest. move. ever.