If there is a recession going on, please do not tell the American consumers. Based on recent reports, even if times are tough, and money is tight, pixel hungry consumers are out in force.
Microsoft Kinect
Microsoft recently announced that the traditional shopping nightmare day of Black Friday has propelled sales of the motion sensing Kinect over the 2.5 million mark. This represents a global total sales figure, and has been accomplished in only 25 days. And with some quick cocktail napkin math, that breaks down to 100,000 units sold/day.
“We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves as fast as possible to keep up with demand,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “With sales already exceeding two and a half million units in just 25 days, we are on pace to reach our forecast of 5 million units sold to consumers this holiday.”
5 million units in just 2 months? Impressive numbers for sure Microsoft. To you, I can only say; Hats off. Available in more than 38 countries around the world, and 60,000 retailers, Kinect is Microsoft’s answer to the once-top-of-the-charts Nintendo Wii motion sensing controller. With Kinect, not only can you control games, but also interact with movies, music, and television, and the Kinect system also responds to voice commands.
“Kinect on Xbox 360 was a top performer at Target this weekend,” said Nik Nayar, vice president, merchandising, Target. “We expect Kinect will be a must-have gift this holiday season, so Target will continue to receive consistent shipments of Kinect throughout December. The hands-free, active gaming experience that Kinect offers is something that everyone in the family can enjoy.”
Nintendo
And while Microsoft might be on target to sell 5 Million units before the holiday season comes to an end, Nintendo also received the Black Friday bump, with Redmond reporting that consumers took home a combined $1.5 million worth of Nintendo gear over the course of Black Friday week, November 21st – 27th. Nintendo’s Black Friday sales numbers clocked in at a very healthy 900,000 units of the Nintendo DS line moving off the shelf, and with 600,000 Wii consoles destined for holiday happiness. This numbers do not reflect actual sales numbers, but are derived from Nintendo’s own internal sales estimates.
When viewed in the same Don Draper-esque math, Nintendo moved 9,000 units per hour over the Black Friday Week.
“For the past several years, consumers have decided that Nintendo defined both top value and all-inclusive entertainment, and that sentiment continues again at the start of this shopping season,” comments Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime.
Nintendo points to it’s attractive new hardware color offerings, as well as popular game/hardware bundles as primary drivers for the sales numbers. Bundles include a limited edition Mario red Wii and DSiXL, as well as orange and green DSi systems, all of which feature one iteration or another of the now 25 year old Mario franchise.
Of the past few years, we’ve predicted that the video game industry may be recession proof, and while sales numbers and associated costs have remained relatively consistent with all other forms of entertainment around them, it’s very clear that consumers are finding significant value in video game entertainment. To put a number on that value? Well … it’s somewhere around 5 million for Microsoft and Kinect, and certainly, Nintendo has nothing to complain about with 1.5 million units moved in a week.
And it’s not just the plastic wrapped shiny discs that aren’t moving off retailers’ shelves. Console sales revenues took a 38 percent hit, totaling only $382.6 million. Of the big three, Microsoft’s Xbox was the only console that actually increased sales during the month of June. Nintendo’s Wii saw a drop of 45 percent, and Sony’s (arguably overpriced) PS3 got clobbered with a 59 percent drop in sales.
