From Bloomberg:
March 20 (Bloomberg) -- Nintendo Co.'s U.S. sales of its Wii video-game consoles rose 74 percent in February, extending the company's lead over Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp.
The world's largest maker of game consoles sold 753,000 Wii players last month, researcher NPD Group Inc. said yesterday in an e-mailed statement. Stores sold 391,000 Microsoft Xbox 360 players, a gain of 53 percent, and 276,000 of Sony's PlayStation 3, a 1.7 percent decline.
U.S. retailers sold 75 percent more games for the Wii than last year, Nintendo said. Combined with console sales, Kyoto, Japan-based Nintendo accounted for much of the U.S. market's growth of about 10 percent, said Cammie Dunaway, the company's vice president of U.S. sales and marketing. U.S. industry sales totaled $1.47 billion, according to NPD.
"The industry continues to perform well despite the overall economic environment," said Doug Creutz, an analyst with Cowen & Co. in San Francisco. Game software sales increased 9 percent to $733.5 million, exceeding his expectations.
Nintendo has sold 18.7 million Wii consoles in the U.S. since it was introduced in November 2006, leading game developers such as Activision Blizzard Inc. and Electronic Arts Inc. to create more titles for the player.
February marked Tokyo-based Sony's fourth-straight month of falling U.S. sales for the PS3, which at $399.99 costs $150 more than the Wii and $200 more than the lowest-priced Xbox.
'So Far Behind'
"They've buried themselves so far behind both the Wii and Xbox 360, that even if they cut prices there is no way they can catch up," Creutz said. Sony spokesman Patrick Seybold didn't return a call seeking comment.
Sony shares fell 0.9 percent to 0.9 percent to 1,973 yen yesterday on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and Nintendo dropped 0.9 percent to 28,280 yen in Osaka trading. Japanese markets are shut today for a holiday. Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft gained 18 cents to $17.14 on the Nasdaq Stock Market.
The top-selling game in February was Capcom Co.'s "Street Fighter IV," which sold 849,000 copies for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, said NPD, based in Port Washington, New York.
"It tells you that the guys who buy hard-core games have no clue we're in a recession," Michael Pachter, a Los Angeles- based analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities, said in an interview.
Wii Fit
In second place was Nintendo's "Wii Fit," in which players use a balance board to do yoga and other exercises. Stores sold 644,000 copies of "Wii Fit." Electronic Arts is releasing "Sports Active" to compete against "Wii Fit" on the Nintendo player, which uses a motion-activated controller to simulate real activity.
Deutsche Bank AG analyst Satoru Kikuchi wrote in a March 17 report that Nintendo earnings will peak in the fiscal year ending March 2010 and that profit will fall thereafter because of slowing sales of the Wii, DS handheld device and games.
Nintendo's Dunaway said sales "continue to exceed expectations" and the company has no plans to reduce prices.
"There really would be no reason to re-evaluate the price," Dunaway said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Satariano in San Francisco at asatariano1@bloomberg.net
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