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Nintendo Sales Figures for October

by Daniel Bloodworth - November 18, 2003, 6:30 pm EST
Total comments: 20 Source: Nintendo

Nintendo's numbers continue to rise, and they've issued a release looking at the phenomenon from nearly every angle.

DID YOU KNOW?

Nintendo GameCube Sales Update

The official numbers are in, and they confirm that Nintendo GameCube™ is upending the console video game market. The Sept. 25 price drop of Nintendo GameCube to an MSRP of $99.99 continues to have a massive ripple effect throughout the video game industry, according to October's Toy Retail Sales Tracking Service (TRSTS):

* The final October hardware market share among consoles was 35 percent for Nintendo GameCube. It grabbed 10 market share points in October, including nine from PlayStation 2 and one from Xbox.

* Nintendo sold more than a quarter of a million Nintendo GameCube systems in October, 50 percent higher than any other month in 2003, including September. This one-month number also is considerably more than any month of Microsoft Xbox sales so far this year.

* The projected units sold for October are 300,000 for PlayStation 2, 254,000 for Nintendo GameCube and 176,000 for Microsoft Xbox. And momentum is growing: Reports from Nintendo's largest retail clients show that unit sales are actually up so far in November.

* When coupled with sales of the Game Boy® Advance line, Nintendo was responsible for more than half of all hardware system sales (51 percent) in the month of October.

* Nintendo GameCube software sales are also soaring – games sold were up 62 percent in October from the previous month…and so far in 2003, are exactly double what they were at the same point in 2002.

Nothing compares with the Game Boy Advance.

* In October, Nintendo sold more than 400,000 Game Boy Advance systems – more than 100,000 more units than any of the consoles. Nintendo GameCube and Game Boy Advance are the only two systems to show unit sales growth so far in 2003.

GameCube Sales Surge

It looks like $99.99 is the magic number!

MARKET SHARE FOR NINTENDO GAMECUBE DOUBLES FOLLOWING PRICE DROP TO $99.99

Sales of Nintendo GameCube Continue to Surge


REDMOND, Wash., Nov. 4, 2003 – In the video game industry, momentum has a new name: Nintendo GameCube™. In just 35 days of availability at a new manufacturer's suggested retail price of $99.99, Nintendo GameCube has more than quadrupled its sales rate and grabbed 18 points of market share from its two competitors.

Sales figures gathered from the nation's largest retailers show that Nintendo GameCube effectively doubled its market share to 37 percent from 19 percent. The system now runs a strong second in the U.S. market as it challenges for leadership during the important holiday sales season.

"In a tough economy, we've found the sweet spot on pricing, and players are grabbing Nintendo GameCube systems off the shelves at the fastest rate since the console's debut," says George Harrison, senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications, Nintendo of America. "With an $80 price advantage over other systems and the impending launch of the mega-hit Mario Kart: Double Dash!!, this offer is just too good to resist."

Harrison announced the dramatic sales figures today during Harris Nesbitt Gerard's Playtime 2003 Investor Conference in New York. Nintendo has been on a roll on a number of fronts and the statistics bear this out.

When combined with the Game Boy® Advance SP, Nintendo is responsible for half of all system sales to date in 2003. In addition, Nintendo game systems are the only ones to show a year-to-date increase in sales compared with 2002. Game Boy Advance sales are up 25 percent from 2002, while Nintendo GameCube sales are 2 percent above last year. In contrast, sales for Microsoft's Xbox dropped 3 percent and Sony's PlayStation 2 dropped 17.5 percent.*

To keep the momentum going, Nintendo's holiday lineup includes a strong series of games, including Mario Kart®: Double Dash!!™, the season's expected monster seller. Mario Kart: Double Dash!! raises the bar for competitive game play by letting players choose their karts and two characters – one to drive, one to toss weapons or swipe them from other players. The pair can even switch places during the race to maximize strategy. The game is Rated E for Everyone and will be available Nov. 17 at an MSRP of $49.99.

With its amazing graphics and realistic depiction of wild weather conditions, the new 1080°™: Avalanche snowboarding game will be a big hit, while Mario Party® 5 builds on a successful franchise to bring family fun to an electronic version of classic board games. Both games are Rated E for Everyone and will be available at an MSRP of $49.99. Mario Party 5 launches Nov. 11, while 1080°: Avalanche will be available Dec. 1. More than 320 games for the Nintendo GameCube and 550 games for the Game Boy Advance will be available by the end of the year.

Talkback

jasonditzNovember 18, 2003

Surprised this didn't move the stock much. Seems like extremely positive news all around.

nolimit19November 19, 2003

im assuming these are U.S. numbers...sounds like a good ole' fashion ass kicking by nintendo.

BlkPaladinNovember 19, 2003

Yes this is the US figures, since this is the NPD numbers. And it did move stock they are making the Gamecube again for retailers so it took a big bite out of their overstock.

vuduNovember 19, 2003

i was thinking jasonditz was referring to the price of nintendo's stock, not the overstock of gamecubes.

FishNovember 19, 2003

Quote

Originally posted by: PGC NewsBot
And momentum is growing: Reports from Nintendo's largest retail clients show that unit sales are actually up so far in November.



If this would be any other month, I would take that as an excellent news, but taking this is November, naturally sales are rising thanks to christmas. Good news anyway! face-icon-small-happy.gif

jasonditzNovember 19, 2003

Quote

Originally posted by: kingvudu
i was thinking jasonditz was referring to the price of nintendo's stock, not the overstock of gamecubes.


Indeed I was.

C'mon, I can't be the only guy that's holding Nintendo shares here.

thecubedcanuckNovember 20, 2003

" Surprised this didn't move the stock much. Seems like extremely positive news all around. "

The second quarter loss is the reason the stock price staying put. When you look at Nintendo from an investor perspective, you have to realize that the company has done a lot of things that make investors worry, the beating at thier own game to the hands of Sony is a perfect example. It will take a lot more than a few months of good game cube sales to get investors back into the one. I dont see a real rise in Nintendo stock in the forseeable future.

jasonditzNovember 20, 2003

The loss was only because of currency charges. They're still profitable WRT continuing operations.

To me, the only negative news of late was that Mario 128 might not get launched this generation.

vuduNovember 20, 2003

how about 4-5 major publishers dropping support for the cube? or the anouncement of the psp?

mouse_clickerNovember 20, 2003

4 or 5? I seem to remember it being two.

Also, Nintendo attributed their loss to poor Gamecube sales, which the price drop (very) quickly rectified.

jasonditzNovember 20, 2003

So we don't get any more PS2 ports from the essentially bankrupt Eidos. We don't get the one game a year Interplay has been delivering.

Oh, and Acclaim dropped support, but for some reason we're still going to be plagued with another Legends of Wrestling title and some kind of ghetto soccer game anyhow.

The only decent games I really miss are the Sega Sports titles.

The funny thing is, they all dropped support back when the Cube was running third, now its making the Xbox look like yesterday's news.

mouse_clickerNovember 20, 2003

Eidos and Acclaim are probably kicking themselves now, with this very news about Gamecube sales going through the roof coming out right after they decided to drop support for the Gamecube. I hope they squirm in the knowledge that they're idiots. devil.gif The biggest non-Japanese 3rd party I think, now (besides EA) is Ubisoft, and they've been giving the Gamecube stellar support, which is very nice.

vuduNovember 20, 2003

i didn't say i missed any of the games that weren't coming to the cube. most of those publishers sucked and i don't play any sports games. however, i was trying to look at things from an investor's point of view, and it's just another strike against nintendo when any developer stops making games for gamecube.

jasonditzNovember 20, 2003

Quote

Originally posted by: mouse_clicker
Eidos and Acclaim are probably kicking themselves now, with this very news about Gamecube sales going through the roof coming out right after they decided to drop support for the Gamecube. I hope they squirm in the knowledge that they're idiots. devil.gif The biggest non-Japanese 3rd party I think, now (besides EA) is Ubisoft, and they've been giving the Gamecube stellar support, which is very nice.


Activision is bigger, but they too have been pretty good about cube support.

jasonditzNovember 20, 2003

Quote

Originally posted by: kingvudu
i didn't say i missed any of the games that weren't coming to the cube. most of those publishers sucked and i don't play any sports games. however, i was trying to look at things from an investor's point of view, and it's just another strike against nintendo when any developer stops making games for gamecube.


Nobody likes to see support dropped, but how much do any of these companies matter? Was anyone really going "Well, I was going to buy a cube, but not if Eidos isn't backing it"? How much royalty revenue do you generate with a handful of titles that are just going to wind up in the reduced bin anyways?

To me, third party console titles are only useful to the company if they generate new hardware sales. Nintendo's bread and butter is, and always has been, 1st party titles.

mouse_clickerNovember 20, 2003

If Criterion could get a new publisher, similar to what Free Radical did, I couldn't care less that Acclaim dropped their Gamecube support. At least I still have a PS2 for Burnout games.

Ocarina BlueNovember 20, 2003

Quote

Originally posted by: mouse_clicker
If Criterion could get a new publisher, similar to what Free Radical did, I couldn't care less that Acclaim dropped their Gamecube support. At least I still have a PS2 for Burnout games.


Sorry to go off topic, but it's my understanding the Burnout 2 is near impossible to get. Did these people cut support from the GC while there was still a huge shortage of Burnout 2 discs?

jasonditzNovember 21, 2003

If you're really desperate for Burnout 2, Therage.com has it for $49.99

mouse_clickerNovember 21, 2003

My Electronics Boutique STILL doesn't have it in- Acclaim shot themself in the foot with Burnout 2. Luckily a friend of mine found it somewhere in Chicago.

SheckyNovember 21, 2003

I just saw Burnout 2 in Blockbuster... well for rent anyways.

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