U.S. Holiday Sales of Newest Video-Game Consoles Jump 17%

U.S. sales of the latest video-game consoles advanced in the holiday season as consumers snapped up Sony Corp.’s (SNE) PlayStation 4 and Microsoft Corp.’s (MSFT) Xbox One. Sales of so-called eighth generation consoles rose 17 percent in November and December, Liam Callahan, an NPD Group Inc analyst, said today in an interview. Software sales for those devices surged 93 percent, driven by new titles such as Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare and Grand Theft Auto V. Microsoft’s Xbox One was the top-selling console in the period. Total revenue, including hardware, software and accessories, declined 1 percent to $3.25 billion in the five weeks ended Jan. 3, NPD said, as sales of older devices such as the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 waned. “It’s really about that transition where the seventh generation sales are really dragging down the overall sales,” Callahan said. “That’s almost to be expected with how long those consoles have been on the market.” Total sales of hardware slid 4 percent to $1.31 billion, said NPD, a research firm based in Port Washington, New York. Earlier this month, Sony said it sold more than 4.1 million PlayStation 4 units during the mid-November to early January period, and has shipped more than 18.5 million consoles since its debut. Microsoft, in hopes of eclipsing Sony PlayStation sales, unbundled Kinect from its Xbox One and reduced the console’s price by $50. Weekly average sales of the Xbox One in November and December were 50 percent higher than for the Xbox 360, the previous generation console, in the same period after its release, Microsoft said today in a statement. Xbox One also sold the most games in the U.S., the company said. To contact the reporter on this story: Danielle Burger in New York at dburger7@bloomberg.net