U.S. retail sales of video game products plunged by 17 percent in April to $1.03 billion, market research firm NPD Group said.
NDP Group said the slumping sales were the second steep monthly decline in a row. Hardware sales dropped eight percent, software sales fell 23 percent and accessories sales fell 15 percent.
Sales of Nintendo's Wii plunged 52 percent from April 2008 to 340,000 units. Sales of Sony's PlayStation 3 and Microsoft's Xbox 360, which were already fairly anemic, also fell, by 32 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
Even with the decline in Wii sales, the slump in sales of the rival consoles meant that the Wii continued to outsell both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 combined, said NDP Group.
April's NPD data marked the second straight month in which video game sales fell 17 percent. The sector was thought by analysts to be relatively resilient in the economic downturn.
"While the continued difficult economic environment is a factor to consider, our monthly consumer spending indicator study still shows that video games is the category that consumers tell us they're least likely to cut their spending on in coming months," NPD analyst Anita Frazier said in a statement.
Source: Xinhua/Agencies
|
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article