Forget Motion Sensitivity, DS Slams Wii

With all of the hoopla surrounding the Nintendo Wii, many of the not-so-new systems are quickly being forgotten. The success of the Wii is to be admired, but what's even more impressive is the fact that Nintendo's handheld DS (or "dual screen") is still the top dog in overall sales.

Although it's been making a splash in the American market for nearly a month now, the Wii only made its way to the "old country" last week.  A reported 325,000 to 350,000 Wii consoles were sold to Europeans in just two days of availability, meaning just as many sold-out stores and disappointed kiddies as can be found here in the New World.  In Britain, the estimated rate of sale on opening day was about a Wii per second, with cheeky Englishmen and women picking up 50,000 units in the first twelve hours.  In total, it's a better ratio than in North America, where it took eight days for Nintendo to sell 600,000 Wiis.

If you're still unsure about Nintendo's phenomenal market growth this holiday season, take a second to ponder the DS' sales.  The portable device, which was first shipped in 2004, actually sold more than half a million units in Europe last week.  Topping out somewhere around 515,000, Nintendo reps proudly called the handheld's success the "most any console across all formats has ever sold in a week."

It's unclear what the long-term ramifications of Nintendo's (temporary?) revival and Sony's miserable holiday will be.

 

 

4 comments
Posted by PROUDn00b on December 16,2006 at 1:19 PM
wii losers go play with yourselvs
Posted by Awol on December 15,2006 at 6:10 PM
<i>In total, it's a better ratio than in North America, where it took eight days for Nintendo to sell 600,000 Wiis.</i>

Um, maybe that's because all 500,000 were sold out on day one and another 100,000 on day eight, when the second shipment was sold?  Get your facts straight.  
Posted by Alex on December 15,2006 at 4:42 PM
Its impressive that the DS is still selling so well, especially since it already has so many units sold.

However, the Wii likely would have sold much more than the DS this week if the availability was high. There's not really any sales prediction possible between the modern consoles since two of them are unavailable. About the only thing that can be predicted is they will continue to sell out through the holidays.
Posted by JO on December 15,2006 at 11:58 AM
By the way there isn't a recall since Nintendo hasn't made any mistakes. They are offering a free replacement for those that want new wrist straps but NO RECALL.