Nintendo leapfrogs Sony in software sales

A report from analyst iSuppli has concluded that Nintendo's software sales performance has overtaken that of Sony in the third quarter of 2007.

The company believes that software sold by Nintendo is up from USD 611 million in the third quarter of last year, to USD 943.6 million in the second quarter of this year, and stands at USD 1.2 billion in the third quarter of this year.

That compares to latest figures in the third quarter of this year of USD 1 billion for Sony and USD 317.8 million for Microsoft.

According to a report on Gamasutra, iSuppli points to mass-market appeal and an appropriately mainstream marketing strategy as key reasons for Nintendo's success in this area, while Microsoft continues to focus on "more serious gamers" and Sony suffers from a "lack of compelling titles."

Additionally, iSuppli expects Wii software revenue to rise to USD 1.1 billion by the end of the fourth quarter 2008, and DS software revenue to hit USD 1.2 billion in the same period.

David Carnevale, iSuppli vice president of multimedia content and distribution, expects Nintendo's market lead to last for some time.

"Nintendo is likely to maintain its lead in this area, as it expects by the end of 2007 to ship about 200 additional titles, adding to the more than 150 games already released, many from outside publishers.

"Company software sales should be further boosted by the addition of a new flagship title for the Wii, dubbed Wii Fit, which encourages players to engage in full-body exercises using Wii Balance Boards, performing activities including yoga, push-ups, aerobics and stretching."

Analysts and retailers recently told GamesIndustry.biz that they too believed that Nintendo would be the market leaders in the coming months, and that reported hardware shortages of the Wii console wouldn't have much effect on that position.