Xbox 360 sales drop 31% in October

NPD sees solid end to year for videogames

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 11/15/2007

NOV. 15 | The Xbox 360’s Halo 3 bubble has popped, as October sales for the console fell about 31% from September’s record showing to 366,000 units sold, according to latest NPD Group research.

Boosted by the impressive September bow of the latest Halo game installment, Microsoft's Xbox 360 sold about 530,000 units that month, topping console rivals Nintendo's Wii and Sony's PlayStation 3.

On shelves for only about a month and a half, Halo 3 already has generated 3.7 million in sales, and is the best-selling 2007 title year-to-date, according to NPD.

For October, Nintendo's Wii regained its dominant position in next-generation system sales, selling 519,000 units. PlayStation 3 sold 121,000 players.

Among handheld systems, Nintendo DS sold 458,000 units and the PlayStation Portable sold 286,000.

Strong year-end

Overall, NPD sees the gaming industry performing strongly through the end of the year. Year-to-date both hardware and software videogame revenue is far outpacing the same 2006 period. Hardware jumped 85% to $4.1 billion and software rose 49% to $10.5 billion

PlayStation 3 should play a factor in November, thanks to the introduction of a cheap $399 PS3 and a price chop on the 80GB player.

In fact, PlayStation executives say PS3 sales have jumped 192% across the Top 10 retailers since the new console bowed and price drop hit retail. A PS3 representative did not specify actual units sold.

Sony estimates it will sell 11 million PS3 units worldwide by March 2008.

“This year’s sales have already achieved the annual sales number for 2005, and the two biggest months are yet to come,” NPD analyst Anita Frazier said. “I think we’ll see not only record-breaking revenue, but record-breaking year-over-year growth when the final numbers are tallied."