Tue, Apr 12, 2011 | 02:50 BST
Analysts: 3DS shifted 500,000 units on five days, but sales have dropped
Analysts have predicted that 500,000 3DS consoles were sold in the handhelds first five days on sale in the US, but also that sales have dropped off markedly.
CVG reports both Wedbush Morgan and EEDAR analysts nominated the half-million figure.
But according to Gamasutra, Lazard Capital Markets believes sales have “slowed considerably” since launch, and may not pick up again until the Easter sales.
Alas, we may never know the truth. Chief sales-tracking body NPD has ceased release of sales figures to media, and cautioned analysts against revealing data.
In Japan, 3DS sales dropped sharply in the two weeks after launch, beaten to top spot in the hardware charts by the PSP.
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Posted in: 3DS, Nintendo
Tags: analyst, analysts, Colin Sebastian, EEDAR, Jesse Divnich, Lazard Capital, Lazard Capital Markets, michael pachter, wedbush morgan, Wedbush Morgan Securities
7 comments
#1
neon6
12/04/11, 2:58 am
Is it because 3DS has no games?
#2
Dannybuoy
12/04/11, 7:44 am
Sales dropped as quickly as owners sliding the 3D slider to the off position…
#3
polygem
12/04/11, 8:15 am
there are no games for it. buy it just to watch how nice the dust on it looks? nintendo fucked up the launch imo. no thrills there. there should have been a mario or zelda or samus. this way it felt trashy and cheap. i´ll wait for ngp and decide then. still hope ms will make a decent handheld announcement beyond zune hd or Win7 phone this E3…doubt it though. too bad.
#4
themadjock
12/04/11, 8:21 am
MGS Snake Eater 3D should have been available for launch. I think I will borrow my friends to play that probably with the slider off as the black waves of dizziness didn’t impress me
#5
Blerk
12/04/11, 8:38 am
Part of me thinks they should’ve held this back until Christmas, let the library build up a bit, stockpile units so that they had plenty to go around. The ‘buzz’ wasn’t that great to begin with, but it seems to have totally vanished now. What’s the next ‘big’ 3DS game that’s actually got a confirmed release date?
#6
The_Red
12/04/11, 9:24 am
I think they should have bundled a semi addictive game with the system or at least released a game from some mega franchise. Wii had Wii Sports and most people are still buying Wii just for that game alone!
#7
typeface
12/04/11, 9:51 am
@6 they do have bundled software with the 3DS as well such as the AR games of face raiders and such. However this isn’t as compelling as wii sports was to the public. Regardless it does have the initial wow factor.
3DS sales trickling shouldn’t be surprising though. The similarities between the 3DS launch and the PS3 launch are uncanny really well especially in terms of complaints. Expensive, No games, etc etc.
Not to mention Nintendo’s supposed strategy of holding back releases was just plain stupid.