DS sold more in Japan than the PSP & PS2 combined

Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported that Nintendo has sold 380,000 DS Lites and 180,000 original DS handhelds in the month of March. Both the handhelds have been plagued by shortages, so the number would have gone higher, if it were not for those shortages. Sony came in at a distant second, selling 150,000 PSPs and 140,000 PS2s.

What’s surprising is that the PS2 is still selling in large numbers, even though it hit the market six years ago, while the PSP which was released about a year ago sold only 10,000 more units than the PS2.

Xbox 360 sales were not even reported, presumably because it hasn’t been received well by the public. A few sources claim sales of only about 50,000 units, a sad figure for a console which is doing so well in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

Nintendo’s strong performance lifted total hardware spending to 15.3 billion yen ($130 million), an increase of almost 50 percent over the total from March 2005.

The DS also took a huge lead in software sales, claiming 6 of the top 10 spots. For the Playstation 2, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XII also sold more than 2 million copies in its first month on the market. Total software sales for the month came to a whopping 38.1 billion yen ($323.7 million)–almost double the sales from March 2005.

This drives home the point that the Nintendo is comfortably leading the pack from Sony and Microsoft. Now only if the Revolution is as successful as the DS, we might be looking at the new market leader.
Japan’s Mainichi newspaper reported that Nintendo has sold 380,000 DS Lites and 180,000 original DS handhelds in the month of March. Both the handhelds have been plagued by shortages, so the number would have gone higher, if it were not for those shortages. Sony came in at a distant second, selling 150,000 PSPs and 140,000 PS2s.

What’s surprising is that the PS2 is still selling in large numbers, even though it hit the market six years ago, while the PSP which was released about a year ago sold only 10,000 more units than the PS2.

Xbox 360 sales were not even reported, presumably because it hasn’t been received well by the public. A few sources claim sales of only about 50,000 units, a sad figure for a console which is doing so well in the U.S., Europe and Australia.

Nintendo’s strong performance lifted total hardware spending to 15.3 billion yen ($130 million), an increase of almost 50 percent over the total from March 2005.

The DS also took a huge lead in software sales, claiming 6 of the top 10 spots. For the Playstation 2, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XII also sold more than 2 million copies in its first month on the market. Total software sales for the month came to a whopping 38.1 billion yen ($323.7 million)–almost double the sales from March 2005.

This drives home the point that the Nintendo is comfortably leading the pack from Sony and Microsoft. Now only if the Revolution is as successful as the DS, we might be looking at the new market leader.