NPD: Nintendo positive despite Wii sales drop

The lack of a March-based Easter has not only dented NPD’s previously untouchable clean run of strong monthly US sales results, but also chinked the previously unblemished armour of market leader Nintendo.

Sales of its Wii console fell 17 per cent compared to march 2008, with 601,000 units shifted. It’s the first time Wii has suffered a year-on-year sales drop with Wii in 14 months.

As a result, Bloomberg reports that Nintendo’s share price lost 6.6 per cent on the Osaka Securities Exchange.

However, none of this should detract from the fact that Nintendo had another powerhouse month in the region, bossing the nation’s hardware market and claiming a 58.4 per cent share.

Debutant the DSi sold 435,000 units in its first week – almost double the sales enjoyed by the DS Lite in its first week. There was big software success, too, with Pokemon Platinum, Wii Fit, Wii Play and Mario Kart Wii all finishing in the monthly software top ten.

Nintendo systems accounted for 58.4 percent of the video game hardware sold in March, more than all other systems combined,” Nintendo of America’s executive VP of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway claimed.

Consumers continue to be attracted to the wide range of software available and the great value of Nintendo systems.”