In Japan PSP Outsells DS, Wii Surpasses PS3
Enterbrain released its latest figures about the gaming sales in Japan, Reuters reported. Sony’s PSP has managed to take the lead in the gaming handheld sector, outselling its rival, Nintendo DS, in a 2-to-1 report. PSP sold 380,867 units compared to only 169,911 Nintendo DSs.

In the console market, the situation is unchanged and the four weeks period until April 27, Wii has crashed again its rival with 187,121 units compared to 37,676 PS3s.

Last week, Nintendo’s president Satoru Iwata said that the Japanese game maker will not cut the prices of its gaming consoles, Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

Since its launch in November 2006, Nintendo Wii has sold close to 24 million units worldwide and the price was left unchanged. Wii is selling for $250 in US and 25,000 yen in Japan.

In the same period, Sony has cut the price of its PlayStation 3 by $200 in order to boost the sales.  Also, Microsoft has slashed the price of  Xbox 360 with $20 to $50 across various models.

Iwata’s statement came after the Japanese game maker announced its earnings for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2008.

According to Nintendo, sales jumped 73 percent to more than 1.67 trillion yen ($16.07 billion) while operating profits soared 115.6 percent to more than 487 billion yen ($4.69 billion). Group net profit rose 47 percent to 257.34 billion yen ($2.5 billion).

Nintendo has shipped 18.61 million Wii consoles to its distributors and retail customers across the globe and 30.31 million Nintendo DS units.