News: NPD Group Releases April, 2007 U.S. Console Sales Numbers

 

NPD today released their console sales numbers for the U.S., for April, 2007.  The next-gen console sales for the month were:

XBOX 360: 360,000

PS3: 82,000

Wii: 360,000

Another phenomenal month for the Wii, and the PS3 is finally starting to slip behind the tracking of the XBox 360 (sales per month since inception).  Although it's important to note that these figures are just for the U.S. (Microsoft's home territory), the PS3's very weak sales numbers for April cannot be denied.  I think that, dollar for dollar, the PS3 is already an excellent buy, videogame systems shouldn't be just toys for the rich.  I admire Sony for going out on a limb to create a technically amazing system, but they need to focus on getting the price down as soon as possible.  By this fall, a $100 or more price cut is a MUST -- and another price reduction in 2008 to bring the price to $399 would go a long way to getting the system into more homes. 

Well, we now have six month numbers for all three systems in, and the numbers are:

Xbox 360: 1,504,343

PS3: 1,270,700

Wii: 2,470,200

In other words, for every 1 PS3 sold in its first six months, Microsoft sold 1.18 XBox 360's, and Nintendo sold an amazing 1.94 Wii's.  The Wii hasn't started to show any of the post-hype slowdown many of us were predicting, and the release of excellent PS3 games hasn't boosted its sales, due either to the system's high price, or the related rumors of an upcoming price cut.

Obviously, the XBox 360 has been out considerably longer than the other consoles, so in the interests of fairness, here is a chart that shows the total sales of the consoles over their lifetimes.

As you can see, the XBox 360 obviously leads in total U.S. sales, but the breakaway success of the Wii means Nintendo will likely pass Microsoft's offering much sooner than anyone would have predicted.  The PS3 definitely has its work cut out for it.  Hopefully, given the drop in prices for Blu-ray laser components, the PS3 should be able to drop its price faster than is typical for a new console.

In any event, Sony needs to formally announce that there will be NO price cut this year, if that is the case, in order to quell the rumors, that are likely cutting into current sales.  Hopefully, their silence speaks to the fact that the rumor is indeed true, and by this fall we'll be seeing more reasonably priced systems on store shelves.