Nov. 13 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. sales of Nintendo Co.'s Wii video-game console rose 55 percent in October as the industry rebounded from its first monthly decline in more than two years.
Consumers purchased 803,000 Wii players, Port Washington, New York-based NPD Group Inc. said today in an e-mailed statement, an increase from 519,000 a year earlier. Total industry sales rose 18 percent to $1.31 billion, NPD said.
Revenue is recovering from a September slump, when the industry was competing against the year-earlier release of Microsoft Corp.'s ``Halo 3'' game, which spurred sales of the company's Xbox 360 console.
``The video games industry grew an impressive 18 percent year-over-year in the first month of the critical fourth quarter,'' NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in the statement. ``With 10 months under its belt, the video games industry is still poised to top $22 billion in annual sales in 2008.''
Software sales rose 35 percent, led by Microsoft's ``Fable II,'' NPD said.
In October, consumers purchased 371,000 of the 360s and 190,000 units of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3. Microsoft cut the price of the least-expensive model of the Xbox 360, the Arcade, to $199.99 from $279.99 in September.
Nintendo is boosting shipments to the U.S. by 50 percent during the fourth quarter to avoid shortages that limited sales last year. The company feels no pressure to lower Wii's $249 price tag, Reggie Fils-Aime, president of the company's U.S. business, said in an interview today.
Boosting Production
``It's difficult to contemplate a price reduction when product is selling out,'' Fils-Aime said. ``For us it's first about getting product into the market.''
Consumers purchased 803,000 Wii players, Port Washington, New York-based NPD Group Inc. said today in an e-mailed statement, an increase from 519,000 a year earlier. Total industry sales rose 18 percent to $1.31 billion, NPD said.
Revenue is recovering from a September slump, when the industry was competing against the year-earlier release of Microsoft Corp.'s ``Halo 3'' game, which spurred sales of the company's Xbox 360 console.
``The video games industry grew an impressive 18 percent year-over-year in the first month of the critical fourth quarter,'' NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in the statement. ``With 10 months under its belt, the video games industry is still poised to top $22 billion in annual sales in 2008.''
Software sales rose 35 percent, led by Microsoft's ``Fable II,'' NPD said.
In October, consumers purchased 371,000 of the 360s and 190,000 units of Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3. Microsoft cut the price of the least-expensive model of the Xbox 360, the Arcade, to $199.99 from $279.99 in September.
Nintendo is boosting shipments to the U.S. by 50 percent during the fourth quarter to avoid shortages that limited sales last year. The company feels no pressure to lower Wii's $249 price tag, Reggie Fils-Aime, president of the company's U.S. business, said in an interview today.
Boosting Production
``It's difficult to contemplate a price reduction when product is selling out,'' Fils-Aime said. ``For us it's first about getting product into the market.''
