Nintendo 3DS Sales Strong Despite US Videogame Sales Fall In March

SAN FRANCISCO (Dow Jones)- Nintendo Co.'s (NTDOY, 7974.OK) new 3DS handheld game device scored big in its debut, despite weakness in overall U.S. videogame sales in March.

The Japanese videogame maker said U.S. sales of its 3DS reached nearly 400,000 units in its first week of sales. That was slightly less than the original Nintendo DS, which launched during the Thanksgiving holiday week.

Those results stood in contrast to the overall market, in which sales of new videogame hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. fell to $1.53 billion, down 4% from the same period last year, according to market researcher NPD Group.

NPD's data suggest the videogame industry has to work hard to capture customer's attention as fickle consumers turn to cheaper games available for smartphones, tablets and popular websites such as Facebook.

New game sales dropped 15% to $790.9 million from $928.3 million the same time last year. NPD analyst Anita Frazier said the top titles for March were Nintendo's "Pokemon White Version," "Pokemon Black Version," and THQ Inc.'s (THQI) "Homefront," none of which are considered blockbuster titles.

"Software sales last year were marked by several marquee titles... which were all million-plus unit sellers in March 2010," she said in a statement.

Electronic Arts Inc.'s (ERTS) "Dragon Age II," ranked fourth, followed by Activision Blizzard Inc.'s (ATVI) "Call of Duty: Black Ops," which continued strong sales despite having been released last November.

New videogame hardware sales jumped 12% to $494.5 million from $440.6 million a year earlier, bolstered by sales of Nintendo's 3DS. Nintendo said the device, which can display 3-D images without the need for specialized viewing glasses, pulled in the best first-day sales record of any of the company's handheld.

"We continue to have very good momentum at retail and consumers are excited to buy the product," said Nintendo's North American Chief Operating Officer Reggie Fils-Aime.

Sales of videogame accessories such as prepaid cards used to purchase digital content within games, rose 13% to $241.3 million from $214.3 million the year before. Frazier said the continued strong sales of videogame accessories underscores the growing importance of digital content.

NPD data only include retail sales of new packaged games, but not sales of used games, online games or mobile apps. Frazier said sales of some digital content offset retail software sales declines.

-By Ian Sherr, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6455; ian.sherr@dowjones.com

Nintendo (PK) (USOTC:NTDOY)
과거 데이터 주식 차트
부터 6월(6) 2024 으로 7월(7) 2024