Analysts: Wii’s slim lead due to hardware diversion for Japan titles

Wii sales were unexpectedly weak this month as it only sported a slim lead against its Sony rival. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter explains the reason behind Nintendo’s weak sales for this month, in contrast to the PlayStation 3’s phenomenal numbers last January. You can find out more about the numbers from the NPD in the full article.

It looks like 2008 might just spell an end to the sales drought that Sony‘s PlayStation 3 has been suffering during the previous year. After beating Microsoft’s Xbox 360 during last month’s NPD report, the PS3 is slowly closing the gap between its Nintendo rival.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter noted that the strong start in video game sales this January was tied to the high demand across the board for both software and hardware products. In fact, he saw 2008 as the year Sony to shine for several reasons.

Pachter maintained his positive outlook for Sony’s PS3 by saying:

PS3 hardware demand continues to improve. We think that the Warner Brothers commitment to the Blu-ray format makes it far more likely that the format will prevail over the rival HD-DVD format, and we expect Sony to emphasize that point in PS3 advertising later this year, ultimately driving sales higher.

Pachter noted that the slim lead that the Wii won over the PS3 this month was due to the “diversion of Wii units to Japan to support the launches of Wii Fit and Super Smash Bros. Brawl“.

With the North American release of Super Smash Bros. Brawl all set for this March, this may explain the reason behind the Wii’s relatively weak sales last month. Pachter mentioned that the demand for Wii hardware in Japan was diverted from the United States to support the Japanese release of Brawl.