NPD July 2010: Microsoft, Nintendo, and Sony respond
US sales figures for July are in. Microsoft bested rival consoles on the hardware charts, even trumping Nintendo's family of DS systems.
The big three have released their statements on the numbers, with each focusing on growth and the future. Hit the jump to see what each had to say.
Microsoft’s hardware sales up 118 percent year-over-year.
Continued demand for Xbox 360 saw the console besting the apparently unstoppable DS this month, and Microsoft partially attributed the feat to anticipation for the forthcoming Kinect.
Sales of Xbox 360 were up 118 percent year-over-year, giving the console its strongest July since Halo 3 launched in September 2007, with 443.5k units moved last month.
"For the seventh consecutive month, the Xbox 360 continued to outsell PlayStation 3 at retail, and this was the second consecutive month the Xbox 360 has outsold the Wii at retail," said Microsoft in a statement.
"Overall, the increased console sales contributed to $290 million in total spend at retail on Xbox 360 hardware, software and accessories in July.
"Retail demand for the new Xbox 360 250GB console remains high, and strong momentum is expected to continue for the next several months given the recent introduction of the Xbox 360 4GB model."
Four of July’s best-selling console games were on Xbox 360: NCAA Football 11 topped the chart with more than 368k units sold; Crackdown 2 came in at number three; Red Dead Redemption at five; and Modern Warfare 2 at number eight.
Software sales have been consistent on Xbox 360, as the console had at least two games in the top 10 every month in 2010. Consumers spent over $125 million on Xbox 360 games last month, driving the console's software attach rate of 8.9.
Nintendo moves over 650K hardware units in July
Microsoft may have topped the hardware charts this month, but Nintendo was still the real winner when combining figures for both DS and Wii.
Nintendo's two hardware offerings combined to sell over 652.3k in July, with the DS family moving 398.4k and Wii selling 253.9k units. July was the 45th consecutive month to see more than 250k Wii units sold in the US.
Total 2010 US hardware sales through the end of July for DS stand at approximately 3.4 million and Wii at more than 2.71 million.
Nintendo was also king of the software charts, with five of the top 10 titles on either DS or Wii, amassing over 727k in software sales: Super Mario Galaxy 2 moved 192k units; Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 moved 142k for DS and 133k for Wii; Dragon Quest IX on DS sold 132K units; and New Super Mario Bros. Wii sold over 128k.
PS3 sales up 76 percent year-over-year and 45 percent year-to-date
Sony's PS3 moved 214.5k units last month, bringing the total of consoles in American homes to 13 million to date.
July was also the 12th month of consecutive year-on-year growth for PS3, with unit sales up 76 percent since July 2009, and up 45 percent to date (Jan-July 09 vs Jan–July 10).
"With the holidays just around the corner, there’s no question the critical role video games will play to drive consumer interest and entertainment spend this season," said SCEA's Patrick Seybold.
"We know consumers are looking for more reasons to gather in their living rooms and are looking for content options that are compelling, relevant and offer fun for the entire family. PlayStation is the best company to deliver this total entertainment solution for every consumer.
"We’re also amply prepared to feed the consumer demand with new innovations like PlayStation Move coming next month, and unbelievably realistic 3D gaming experiences like Gran Turismo 5, in addition to anticipated games such as LittleBigPlanet 2 and EyePet coming later this holiday."
You can get the full figures and analysis for July through here.