December 2008 NPD Console Sales: Nintendo Continues To Rule The World

Update: 5:53PM PST

The NPD Group has released its numbers, courtesy of Kotaku, for December 2008...and once again Nintendo has slaughtered the competition. The company sold 3.04-million Nintendo DS units in December, setting a new record for the number of consoles sold in one month. The previous record was held by Sony's PlayStation 2, which sold 2.7-million systems in December 2002. The Nintendo Wii sold 2.15-million units in December, bringing the company total to 5.19-million systems sold that month. Can you say, "Wow"?

Here's the full list of December sales figures, as well as further analysis:

1. Nintendo DS - 3,040,000
2. Wii - 2,150,000
3. Xbox 360 - 1,440,000
4. PSP - 1,020,000
5. PlayStation 3 - 726,000
6. PlayStation 2 - 410,000

Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation Portable performed very well last month. Many experts suggested that Microsoft would fast-track the Xbox 360's successor if its holiday sales didn't meet expectations -- I guess that won't be an issue. As for the PSP...well some ill-informed people think it's doomed, but it appears to be doing just fine. While the PlayStation 3 sales were respectable, I imagine Sony has to be disappointed that it didn't break a million units.

The DS numbers also make me think about the "Nintendo DSi in April" rumor. The system just broke a six-year record! I don't see the need for the company to (potentially) cannibalize sales by introducing an incrementally upgraded successor. I admit that there's a lot that I don't know about the manufacturing, storage, and shipping involved with a new system, but I still think it would be wise for the company to make sure the DSi's online service is tight and that it has enough quality games at launch. The numbers would indicate that it still has plenty of DS systems to sell in the first half of 2009. I don't see why the company would jeopardize that.

Update: I just received a press release from Nintendo that stated the company sold 10.17-million Wii and 9.95-million DS systems in 2008. It's funny to think that so many console gamers said Nintendo was "teh doomed" during the GameCube days.

That's the story for December hardware. For the software side, be sure to check out Brian's report and analysis. What do you ladies and gents think about the numbers? Impressed by any performances? Disappointed by others? Leave a comment and let me know (please).

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