New NPD data for October on Friday showed Nintendo recovering some of its pace in mobile. The 3DS had reached 1.65 million systems shipped to the US since it reached the country in March and was on track to break the original DS’ first-year sales record. With 720,000 units left to go by March 2012, the company expected a rush of holiday sales and the winter to tip the balance.
While 3DS sales by themselves weren’t broken out individually, Nintendo noted that the 3DS was overall adding to its bottom line, having increased the handheld systems’ sales 25 percent versus a year ago.
The 3DS wasn’t the top-selling system. Microsoft revealed that it had moved 393,000 Xbox 360 systems, up 21 percent from a year ago and enough to keep it in front for its ninth consecutive month.
