Culture

January NPD: Nintendo Shortages, Again?

Shortages of Nintendo hardware following a record-breaking Christmas helped cause January 2010 videogame sales to drop, say analysts. The NPD Group reported the U.S. videogame industry sales for January on Thursday. Sales of $1.17 billion were down 13 percent versus January 2009, it said. “We attribute a portion of the large decline to lackluster sales […]
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Shortages of Nintendo hardware following a record-breaking Christmas helped cause January 2010 videogame sales to drop, say analysts.

The NPD Group reported the U.S. videogame industry sales for January on Thursday. Sales of $1.17 billion were down 13 percent versus January 2009, it said.

"We attribute a portion of the large decline to lackluster sales of Nintendo hardware, which we think were caused by supply shortages," said Wedbush Morgan Securities analyst Michael Pachter in a note to investors on Friday. "Nintendo's monthly hardware sales have been quite volatile, with outrageously high figures in December... followed by outrageously low figures in January," he wrote.

Even facing shortages, Nintendo's hardware and software sales were well ahead of the competition's. The hardware sales and top 20 software sales are below.

Hardware Sales
  1. Wii 465.8K
  2. Nintendo DS 422.2K
  3. Xbox 360 332.8K
  4. PlayStation 3 276.9K
  5. PSP 100.1K
  6. PlayStation 2 41.6K
Top 20 Software (Numbers for 1-10 only)
  1. New Super Mario Bros. Wii (Wii, Nintendo of America) 656.7k
  2. Mass Effect 2* (360, Electronic Arts) 572.1k
  3. Wii Fit Plus w/ Balance Board* (Wii, Nintendo of America) 555.7k
  4. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2* 360 Activision Blizzard 326.7k
  5. Mario Kart w/ Wheel (Wii, Nintendo of America) 310.9k
  6. Wii Sports Resort w/ Wii Motion Plus* (Wii, Nintendo of America) 297.6k
  7. Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2* (PS3, Activision Blizzard) 259.0k
  8. Army Of Two: The 40th Day (360, Electronic Arts) 246.5k
  9. Just Dance (Wii, Ubisoft) 191.9k
  10. Darksiders (360, THQ) 171.2k
  11. Army Of Two: The 40th Day (PS3, Electronic Arts)
  12. Wii Play w/ Remote* (Wii, Nintendo of America)
  13. MAG (PS3, Sony)
  14. Darksiders (PS3, THQ)
  15. EA Sports Active Bundle (Wii, Electronic Arts)
  16. Mario Kart DS (NDS, Nintendo of America)
  17. Bayonetta (360, Sega Of America)
  18. New Super Mario Bros. (NDS, Nintendo of America)
  19. Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story (NDS, Nintendo of America)
  20. God of War I & II Collection (PS3, Sony)

*Includes bundles, collector's editions, etc.

Image courtesy Nintendo

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