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Nintendo DS Worldwide Sales Nearing 13 Million

January 5, 2006, 5:33 pm EST
Total comments: 11

Nintendo of Europe adds their sales totals to the impressive American and Japanese tallies.

NINTENDO EUROPE TAKES THE NEW YEAR BY STORM WITH OUTSTANDING HAND-HELD SUCCESS

- 3.5 million Nintendo DS units sold across Europe -

5th January 2006 - Without a doubt 2005 was the year of the handheld console.

With the highly successful launch of the Nintendo DS and the continued success

of Game Boy Advance SP Nintendo has dominated the handheld market. Following

Nintendo DS's launch in Europe in March, almost three and a half million

Nintendo DS have been sold.

Worldwide sales have shown a similar pattern with millions turning to Nintendo

for their portable gaming. Approximately 13 million* Nintendo DS are now in

the hands of people all around the world.

In Europe sales of Nintendo DS have been significantly bolstered by the launch

of ground breaking games such as Nintendogs, which sold 1.6 million copies in

Europe since launch in October and Mario Kart DS which stormed the Christmas

charts with its global Wi-Fi capabilities, selling 800,000 copies in Europe

since its late November launch.

Game Boy Advance has once again continued to sell well throughout the year

with Pokemon continuing to go from strength to strength, sales of the latest

game Pokemon Emerald reaching a staggering 1.2 million since it launched in

October 2005.

European gamers have a lot to look forward to in 2006, with the launch of

Prof. Kawashima's Brain Training: How old is your brain? and Animal Crossing:

Wild World, both of which have been a huge success in Japan, selling over one

million each, and are launching soon in Europe.

The Nintendo DS is available for around 129 Euros. Mario Kart DS and

Nintendogs are now available for around 40 Euros and both games are also

available in bundle packs (including a copy of the game and a Nintendo DS),

available for around 149 Euros.

* Combined sell-thru numbers in Japan, US, Latin America, Australia and other

territories

Talkback

NinGurl69 *hugglesJanuary 05, 2006

BANZAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII

BiLdItUp1January 05, 2006

I'm curious...aren't there more people in Europe(some 450 million vs. ~300 million) than there are in America? If so, should the market be bigger? If not, why not?

Do we have a country-by-country breakdown of DS sales?

Infernal MonkeyJanuary 05, 2006

Well I guess this confirms DS' certain doom. =(

KDR_11kJanuary 06, 2006

BildItUp: Less disposable income or higher prices (console game prices are awfully high) or just less interest in technology. Besides, the DS came out half a year later in Europe.

MarioJanuary 06, 2006

Europe has never been a big territory for Nintendo, but with Nintendogs selling more there than anywhere else, it seems maybe that was because Nintendo weren't offering them the right type of games.

couchmonkeyJanuary 06, 2006

Looks like Nintendo's non-gamer strategy has potential after all. Of course, there's no proof here that non-gamers are the ones buying the system, but Nintendogs doesn't exactly scream "killer app" for hardcore gamers.

cubistJanuary 06, 2006

...and yet I've always thought of Nintendogs to be the killer app for DS since I first saw it presented...especially the E3 presentation by the Big 'N. Imagine what happens in Europe if word spreads about 'Electroplankton'. The Big N should definitely market this one over there...all my European cousins would go crazy over that shiznit over the American crowd.

Hmm, let's do some math...

DS's American release was Nov. 21, 2004. As of the end of Dec. 2005, it has been out in the U.S. for 13.5 months.

4,000,000/13.5 = 296,296 sold per month

DS's European release was Mar. 11, 2005. As of the end of Dec. 2005, it has been out in Europe for 9.5 months.

3,500,000/9.5 = 368,421 sold per month

So the DS is selling at a faster rate in Europe (+75,000 per month) than in the US...you'd think that Nintendo would make Europe more of a priority than it has been in the past.

NinGurl69 *hugglesJanuary 06, 2006

You'd think.

But this is Nintendo, so all attempts at figuring out what's best for them via forum discussion doesn't affect them at all.

This news will simply help them push whatever new Sonic title comes out over there. GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO LOGIC!!

Guitar SmasherJanuary 06, 2006

Quote

Originally posted by: Silks
Hmm, let's do some math...

DS's American release was Nov. 21, 2004. As of the end of Dec. 2005, it has been out in the U.S. for 13.5 months.

4,000,000/13.5 = 296,296 sold per month

DS's European release was Mar. 11, 2005. As of the end of Dec. 2005, it has been out in Europe for 9.5 months.

3,500,000/9.5 = 368,421 sold per month

So the DS is selling at a faster rate in Europe (+75,000 per month) than in the US...you'd think that Nintendo would make Europe more of a priority than it has been in the past.

That's assuming sales/month is constant, which it most certainly is not. It'd make more sense for you to compare 6 non-launch/non-holiday months and compare. In the case of NA's months, they should be early ones, as sales are influenced by the products prior availability.

Mario323January 06, 2006

I bet the PSP didn't even sell half that much.

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