NPD January 2008 sales numbers: PS3 outsells Xbox 360 for the first time

The gaming industry’s year 2007 ended with a blast after displaying overwhelming sales due to big hits that arrived during the holidays. January is often not the month for big revenues since big bombs just blew pockets open, but according to the NPD Group’s numbers for 2008’s first month, adjusted expectations were still not met. Find all the details at the full article.

The NPD Group’s much awaited January 2008 sales numbers for both video game hardware and software are finally in, revealing that the Sony PlayStation 3 outsold the Microsoft Xbox 360 in the U.S. for the first time. While the software side enjoyed growth from the same period of last year, total hardware units sold fell short of expectations.

Following Microsoft’s announcement of its console’s shortage, only 230,000 went off shelves – 20.30% lower than expected. Sony’s machine, on the other hand, is the only one that exceeded the numbers that the market anticipated. Around 269,000 PS3 units were sold – 28.52% higher than the expected 209,300 – marking the first time it fared better than the competing Xbox 360 since launch.

Nintendo wasn’t able to meet expectations, which The Sim Exchange attributes to supply constraints. Casual gamers’ demand for the white hot Wii allowed post-holiday projections to reach 396,900, but it fell short by 30.96% after only selling 274,000 units.

The DS underperformed the most with 251,000 units sold, 48.11% below the expected 483,700, yet remained above 230,000 of the Sony PSP. However, Sony’s handheld did not disappoint anyone after selling only 1.29% behind expectations.

Activision is still dominant in the software sales list thanks to Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare on top, along with contributions of both Wii and Xbox 360 versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Check out the numbers below, courtesy of The Sim Exchange.

Via The Sim Exchange