Wii Is Best Selling Console In The World, Official

The Financial Times has reported sales figures from the three biggest videogaming regions, Europe, North America and Japan, and it is now official. The Wii has outstripped the competition to become the biggest selling console this generation.

For the first time in the 17 years since the 16 bit SNES system, Nintendo is sitting at the top of the console market, having sold 9 million consoles. The 360 is a very close second with total international sales of 8.9 million, with the ill fated PS3 trailing the field with a paltry 3.7 million. This is a phenomenal achievement considering that the 360 had more than a full year’s head start on the Wii and analysts have attributed it to the Wii’s cheaper price tag and wider appeal, along with the 360’s poor showing in the Japanese market.

Traditionally console sales take a downturn during the summer months, as did the 360 and PS3 numbers, but the Wii seems to have defied tradition and showed continuous growth throughout the year. Nintendo overtook Sony in terms of market capitalisation (market share, to us non-financial people) for the first time in July.

After the disappointing failure of the GameCube to compete with the original Xbox and the PS2 Nintendo has reclaimed its place among the console pantheon with a vengeance.
Figures were sourced from Enterbrain in Japan, NPD in the US and GfK in Germany.
(From The Financial Times.)

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