NPD: DS leads struggling May hardware sales

The NPD Group has announced US hardware sales figures for the month of May 2009, showing a 30 per cent decline in sales on continued tough comparisons with only one system - the Nintendo DS - showing growth.

Hardware revenue was reported at USD 302,500, a drop of 30 per cent from USD 433,000 in May of 2008. Revenue across the videogame industry as a whole was down 23 per cent from USD 1.12 billion to USD 863,300 - the first time the industry has dipped below USD 1 billion since August 2007.

In terms of hardware units sold, the Nintendo DS sold the most, at 633,500 units in the month - up from 452,608 in May of 2008, due to April's introduction of a new hardware revision, the Nintendo DSi.

"The DS was the top-selling hardware platform for the month," said NPD's Anita Fraizer. "There is a lot of new DS content coming to market this month for a wide variety of gamers, so we should see strong hardware sales continue."

Sales figures for all other hardware showed a decline, with the Nintendo Wii hit the hardest; its 289,500 units sold in May are a 57 per cent drop from 675,100 last year. The PSP showed a similar decline, down 45 per cent, while the Xbox 360 showed only a 6 per cent drop, at 175,000 units sold versus 186,600 last year.

Full hardware sales figures follow.

• Nintendo DS: 633,500 units (425,600 previously, +33 per cent)
• Nintendo Wii: 289,500 units (675,100 previously, -57 per cent)
• Xbox 360: 175,000 units (186,600 previously, -6 per cent)
• PlayStation 3: 131,000 units (208,700 previously, -37 per cent)
• PlayStation 2: 117,000 units (132,708 previously, -12 per cent)
• PlayStation Portable: 100,400 units (208,700 previously, -45 per cent)