July NPD: Industry Sales Fall 26% With A Silver Lining
See Full ImageThe summer drought is here but the good news is that there's almost always a summer drought in this industry.
The NPD numbers for July are in, and total US gaming revenue fell 26% to $707.7 million. Total sales of new games, accessories and hardware dropped 20%, while retail software sales for consoles, handhelds, and PCs dropped 30% to $356.9 million. The only titles that did anything of any note were NCAA Football 2012, Cars 2, and - surprise, surprise - Call of Duty: Black Ops. But NPD analyst Anita Frazier sees the silver lining in these results:
"Despite the very rough month, new physical retail sales are down just 4 percent year-to-date and based on seasonality trends observed over the last 10 years, which have been remarkably stable year-in, year-out, industry sales in this particular channel are poised to land in the flat to -2 percent range once the total year is completed."
Even the recently stable Xbox 360 saw a year-over-year decline, so the month was definitely slow. As for Sony, they only mentioned the fact that peripheral sales rose 18%. Here's the official statement from SCEA Sr. Director of Corporate Communications Patrick Seybold:
"According to the July NPD, PlayStation peripheral sales increased by 18% year-over-year demonstrating a strong consumer interest in PlayStation Move and the Sharp Shooter. PlayStation will continue this momentum in the fall with the release of Resistance3, the groundbreaking shooter that combines 3D with Move and the Sharp Shooter. Our unmatched line-up of first-party software continues to deliver a gaming experience that can only be found on the PS3."
Yeah, bring on the fall.
Tags: npd, july npd, game sales, games industry
8/11/2011 6:48:04 PM John Shepard
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Comments (25 posts)
Qubex
Thursday, August 11, 2011 @ 11:58:57 PM
Q!
"play.experience.enjoy"
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Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 6:46:17 AM
1 up, 2 down
kevinater321
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 12:15:22 AM
Not Worth it.
1 up, 2 down
Beamboom
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 12:27:53 AM
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Clamedeus
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 1:51:18 AM
Last edited by Clamedeus on 8/12/2011 1:53:37 AM
1 up, 0 down
Xombito
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 2:32:05 AM
Last edited by Xombito on 8/12/2011 2:32:33 AM
1 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 7:40:43 AM
;)
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/12/2011 7:41:14 AM
1 up, 0 down
Clamedeus
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 9:33:37 AM
Well we can agree on something but not all the time of course.
Last edited by Clamedeus on 8/12/2011 9:34:01 AM
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WorldEndsWithMe
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 12:59:43 AM
Reply
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Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 3:34:17 AM
Reply
360 401,000
ds 310,000
wii 232,000
ps3 220,000
3ds 100,000
psp 80,000
nothing really surprising here. the ps3 bringing up the rear, and 360 sales about double that of the ps3. look at the 3ds too. no wonder nintendo was forced to drop price.
everytime i see those 360 numbers i ask myself what is driving those sales. peer pressure? can you imagine what would happen if ms actually released some software for its console like sony does? another thing i ask myself is do exclusives really even matter. they seem to have very little impact on sales.
3 up, 0 down
Beamboom
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 5:29:56 AM
If the european numbers are on the same ballpark that means that on the western market, if you release a title exclusive for the ps3 you don't only miss out on halv the potential market (as I've been assuming), but two third!
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/12/2011 5:32:01 AM
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Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 5:34:18 AM
another interesting point in last year the 360 slim was introduced in july cuasing a spike in 360 sales. there was bound to be some fall off when comparing yr to yr sales.
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Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 6:11:27 AM
the ps3 fares better in europe, there is no monthly sales tracker for europe i know of. all i can find is the total sales in uk.
wii 8.2 million
360 3.9 million
ps3 2.9 million
surprised to see the ps3 behind in the uk, becuase i've had people tell me the ps3 is very popular in europe.
anyways, i do find the na numbers shocking as well. no way sony can be happy about those numbers. those numbers are exactly why the industry feels so focused on the 360, and also to blame for sony loosing all it's great 3rd party exclusives such as ff and mgs. i think it also contributed to the decline of the japanese gaming market. they covet the na market so badly they have been willing to throw out a lot of the things that made them a success. they have kind of lost their identity this gen. that's just my opinion, though.
you only have spend about 5 minutes in your local gamespot in the u.s. to know this 360 territory bigtime.
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Beamboom
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 6:52:57 AM
Now I see why a dev would give up on a title if it fails on the xbox. With such a market share the xbox really *do* set the agenda. How annoying!
Sorry WorldEndsWithMe, Underdog & co, I should never have doubted your wisdom. :)
Last edited by Beamboom on 8/12/2011 7:29:53 AM
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Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 8:17:56 AM
you bring up an interesting point about the 50/50 split in europe. people around here like to say the 360 is a u.s. console only but ms has made significant gains on sony in europe as well when you compare marketshare to the previous gen. it's not just a u.s. only system. it's more popular in the uk and austriallia for example.
at this point i don't think the ps3 will ever overtake the 360. apparently the u.s. plus the uk is enough to trump the rest of the world. not even in microsoft's wildest dreams did they expect this to happen. they said they only hoped they could keep up with sony before the start of this gen.
what's amazing is ms pulled this off with crappy hardware and somehow came out of the rrod disaster unscathed.
oh well. there's always next gen. competition is a good thing. i will admit i have been tempted to get a 360 mainly becuase all my friends have one. also it would be the best of both worlds. i could enjoy the ps3's exclusives and play the 360's superior multiplats. i just can't seem to overcome my dislike of ms.
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Underdog15
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 9:17:52 AM
Can you post where you found your numbers? Sony doesn't release sales figures, and Microsoft releases sales numbers in the form of "systems shipped". Not sold. Sony will release percentage rise and falls, but on sales, and they don't take into account systems shipped.
I don't doubt NA is leading with XBOX sales, but I find it very strange how easily you found those numbers that are only available to shareholders.
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Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 9:47:16 AM
cvg is where i got those numbers. they're not hard to find. in fact they are up on cvg's front page right now. they have the eedar/wedbush sales forecasts. usually those forecasts are pretty spot on(within 3%) when you compare them to what the companies say. the sixth axis will actually will extrapalate sony's console sales. they are able to do this becuase ms gives what percentage of console sales they account for and their total sales and nintendo gives out it's numbers. the numbers have pretty steady. usually the numbers are between 220,000-235,000 for sony in the non holday period. i've seen the 360 in the 360,000-400,000 range in comparison.
it's not all bad news for sony. i think eedar said the ps3 was the only console to show a year to year increase of 3%.
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NLCanada
Saturday, August 13, 2011 @ 7:42:03 PM
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___________
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 4:06:15 AM
Reply
have not stepped foot in a games shop since freaking LA Noire released!
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Stabs88
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 8:58:57 AM
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spatenfloot
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 9:11:18 AM
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1 up, 0 down
Excelsior1
Friday, August 12, 2011 @ 10:07:42 AM
Reply
the quickest way to find it is do a google search using the term: cvg 360 dominates july sales
that's where i found the eedar/wedbush sales forecasts. i want be clear that's where i pulled those numbers from and they are forecasts only. they claim to be accurate on their respective websites but i have noticed when they forecast high on all systems.
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Robochic
Sunday, August 14, 2011 @ 8:05:51 AM
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Not suprised on the 3ds nintendo once again brings out a handheld with a slow lineup, I love my 3ds but wish i had more games for it.
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WorldEndsWithMe
Reply
Thursday, August 11, 2011 @ 11:17:22 PM