Welcome to the final revision of QSF5.com’s ‘U.S. NPD Hardware Sales Watch 2008’ feature. Using numbers provided by the NPD Group, this feature will provide a quick glance of the U.S. videogame hardware situation for 2008.
Which company moved the most hardware?
How many months did Nintendo top the charts?
How many months did the PlayStation 3 outsell the Xbox 360?
These and many other simple questions regarding videogame hardware units sold in the U.S. will be answered via easy to read charts. No long winded writeups, just cut to the chase concise observations and charts for your viewing pleasure.
If you have questions or concerns, please check out the F.A.Q. for more info. And if you have any comments or suggestions, please feel free to leave a comment!
Overview
Highlights
- 34,734,300 units of hardware sold throughout 2008
- Lowest selling month was January with approximately 1, 518, 000 units of hardware sold
- Highest selling month was December with approximately 8 ,786, 000 units of hardware sold
- Largest month-to-month surge occured in November
Year End Totals
Highlights
- Nintendo tops competition with over 10 million Wii consoles sold in 2008
- Sony managed to sell 2.5 million PlayStation 2 units in its 8th year
- 360 outsold the PS3 by 1.34:1
- Wii outsold the 360 and PS3 by a 2.15:1 ratio and 2.87:1 ratio respectively
- Wii outsold the HD consoles by 1.23:1
- NDS outsold the PSP by 2.60:1
- Nintendo outsold Sony by 2.04:1
Monthly Console Sales Comparison
Highlights
- PS2’s highest and lowest selling months were December and April respectively
- PS3’s highest and lowest selling months were December and August respectively
- Wii’s highest and lowest selling months were December and August respectively
- 360’s highest and lowest selling months were December and May respectively
- 360 outsold the PS3 seven times this year in March, April, August, September, October, November and December
- Wii outsold the competition handidly at a rate of approximately 28, 000 consoles per day
- 360 sold at a rate of approximately 13, 000 per day
- PS3 sold at a rate of approximately 10, 000 per day
Monthly Handheld Sales Comparison
Highlights
- PSP’s highest and lowest selling months were December and May respectively
- NDS’s highest and lowest selling months were December and January respectively
- Handheld hardware sales spiked during usual vacation periods
- The holiday season was especially kind to Nintendo DS
Quarter 1
January
February
March
Quarter 2
April
May
June
Quarter 3
July
August
September
Quarter 4
October
November
December
Frequently Asked Questions
- What’s the objective of this feature?
It will be a one stop place for 2008 NPD U.S. videogame hardware numbers. We hope to keep things simple and let the charts do the talking. - What about financial numbers?
We’ve decided to keep out of that due to lack of expertise. If you are interested in financial numbers analysis, head over to Edge Online. They have great monthly writeups. - Where are you getting the numbers from?
From all over the internet. The NPD Group releases the numbers and we put them here for safe keeping and “analysis”. - I have an idea for a chart, could you guys make it?
Sure. Please pitch the idea via the comments and we’ll consider it. - Some of your numbers are wrong!
If we made a typo somewhere, please let us know and we’ll try to fix it as soon as possible.
Change Log
Monday, August 25, 2008 – Rev. 0.1
- Initial Release
Thursday, September 11, 2008 – Rev. 0.2
- Overhauled the layout
- Added August data
Thursday, October 16, 2008 – Rev. 0.3
- Added September data
Thursday, November 13, 2008 – Rev. 0.4
- Added October data
- Xbox 360 YTD numbers surpassed the PS3’s this month.
Friday, December 12, 2008 – Rev. 0.5
- Added November data
- 2 million Wii’s sold is ridiculous
Monday, January 19, 2008 – Rev. 1.0
- Moved to more bullet points and less paragraphs mantra
- Added December info
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