Nintendo today posted results showing a significant slump in console sales from year to year that are likely to have been affected by the iPod touch and iPhone. It shipped 2.5 million DS systems in December, according to NPD data, representing a steep 24 percent drop from the 3.31 million last year. The company claimed to have the best portable console sales of 2010 but was counting rivals like the Sony PSP and not multi-role handhelds.
The company didn’t directly pin the drop on Apple but has lately been acknowledging Apple as a risk. The big N has admitted that the delay for the 3DS will cost it valuable ground by giving it no advanced hardware to offer until March in the US.
Nintendo’s Wii sales for the holiday month were enough to beat Microsoft’s 1.9 million Xbox 360s but were also headed downwards. The motion-based TV game system saw its own sales plunge 40 percent to 2.3 million where the Xbox increased by a similar ratio. Microsoft was helped strong than predicted Kinect sales of 8 million units worldwide.
