DS breaks UK hardware sales record

Nintendo’s DS Lite has broken the all-time weekly sales record for hardware in the UK, MCV can reveal.

ELSPA/GFK-ChartTrack figures show that the console broke the record in week ending December 6th (week 49).

The system surpassed its own record to claim the achievement. And GFK-ChartTrack has predicted that the console could even break the milestone again before Christmas.

DS first became the biggest-selling console of all time in the lead-up to Christmas (week 48) last year. The previous record holder was PSP, which smashed sales records in its first week back in September 2005.

GFK-ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch told MCV: The DS Lite has beaten its own record, almost exactly a year after it first took the title. It wasn’t a huge jump, but it bodes well for the remaining weeks. The interesting thing is that we can now assume that if there is still some DS Lite stock in the land in the next couple of weeks, the record will go again.

Over the last couple of years, week 48 has been big, then the market has gone up a little more in week 49 – then there’s an almighty jump in week 50 and 51.

Surprisingly enough, the last console to break the record – smash it, in fact – was the PSP in launch week. That was September, 2005 (week 35). There was such a pent up demand – everyone had seen it at E3, TGS and more. UK consumers went berserk for it.”

The DS was first launched in the UK in March 2005. The DS Lite followed in June 2006.