Tag Archives: japanese market

Microsoft’s console has never set the Japanese charts alight, but six years after its launch falling sales are prompting some retailers to call time on Xbox 360.

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Enterbrain has released its yearly sales report for the Japanese videogame market, and it finds the industry as a whole down 9 percent in 2010 year-over-year.
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According to Famitsu figures, the Japanese market shrank by 10.5 percent in the first half of the fiscal year.

Hardware sales are down 15.1 percent, with software down 7.5 percent.

Figures:

DS
First Half Fiscal 2009: 1,698,818 units
Life-to-date: 27,851,784 units

PSP
First Half Fiscal 2009: 813,604 units
Life-to-date: 12,618,193 units

Wii
First Half Fiscal 2009: 594,398 units
Life-to-date: 8,547,552 units

PS3
First Half Fiscal 2009: 581,676 units
Life-to-date: 3,591,071 units

360
First Half Fiscal 2009: 137,059 units
Life-to-date: 1,138,250 units

More on Kotaku.

According to this Japan Today report, Famitsu publisher Enterbrain has predicted that hardware and software sales in Japan will peak at 710.4 billion yen in 2008 and to fall to 671.1 billion yen in 2010.

However, the market for online games is expected to continue growing and to reach 320.5 billion yen in 2010, bringing the total market for game consoles and online games to 991.6 billion yen.

According to this Kotaku piece, KBC Securities Japan analyst Hiroshi Kamide reckons that DS’s day has dawned, both in Japan and abroad.

“Casual gaming growth has been driven over the last three years by the Nintendo DS platform,” he said. “Demand has peaked in Japan, and we believe is currently peaking overseas. Compounded by a less robust retail environment, we expect to see a decline in the handheld sector.”

Kamide added: “The casual market looks more exposed to an economic downturn, due to its non-essential nature. The sector remains ‘hit-driven’, which provides a positive outlook for the companies with strong core title line-ups.”

DS was shown yesterday to be the biggest selling machine in Japan last year, having moved 6.34 million units.