Although Sony has seen a 300 percent increase in its PS3
sales, it won’t be enough to stand in the way of Nintendo Wii.
The little gaming console set a new record in the first week
of the 2007 holiday shopping season.
Nintendo of America said in a press statement that it has
sold more Nintendo products than at any other time in its history.
The Japanese company sold 350,000 Wii in just one week,
after no less than 300,000 units had found their owners in the first week of
November. The sales of Wiis represent the highest one-week U.S. sales
total outside of its launch week one year ago.
Sales of Nintendo DS are also going stellar, as the handheld
gaming console set a new all-time sales record for Thanksgiving week, eclipsing
the previous mark of 600,000 Game Boy Advance systems sold during the same
period in the United States
in 2005.
Nintendo DS remains on track to be the top-selling video
game system of 2007.
In an interview for AP, Nintendo of America
President Reggie Fils-Aime said the company is on track to sell 17.5 million
Wiis in the fiscal year ending March 31. Last fall, Nintendo executives
predicted they would sell 14.5 million Wiis.
Meanwhile, even though it has tripled its sales, PS3
probably won’t sell more than 400,000 units, considering that in October only
121,000 PS3s were bought.
And if you’re looking to buy a Nintendo Wii this shopping
season you may have to rush to the store.
Fils-Aime denied the rumors that Nintendo Wii’s shortages
are only a marketing maneuver to attract more buyers. Although Nintendo has
increased the production to 1,8 million units per month, the Nintendo executive
said it’s unlikely they will be able to satisfy the demand.
Also Nintendo won’t alter the price of its console.
Currently Wii has an MSRP of $249.99, while Nintendo DS has an MSRP of $129.99.
The company is currently evaluating how to distribute the
consoles it is producing, in order to balance the different markets. The U.S. market is
expected to absorb as many consoles as Nintendo can ship here.
Meanwhile, according to the latest data unveiled by the
Japanese company Enterbrain, in its homeland Nintendo Wii was outsold by PS3
for the second week in a row. In the week ending November 18, PS3 sold 53,000
units, while Wii managed to sell only 36,000 units.
