The lead that the Nintendo Wii has over the Microsoft Xbox (MSFT) and Sony Playstation3 (SNE) appears to be growing. According to research firm NPD, the Wii sold 436,000 units in the US during January. Xbox was second with 294,000 units and the PS3 trailed with 244,000.
Research firm Enterbrain estimates that 600,000 game consoles were sold in Japan during January. Nintendo’s share was 68% to Sony’s 25% for PS3. Xbox trailed with 7%.
Two months ago, very few industry observers would have believed that the Wii could take such a large lead over the products from the bigger companies. And, it now appears that it is holding that lead handily.
While the numbers are painful for Microsoft, it was never the dominant platform. Playstation was, and at one point game consoles were the largest contributor to Sony’s operating income.
It is a good thing for Sony that its consumer electronics and movie studio businesses are doing well. Its video game business may never entirely recover.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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