NPD: PlayStation 3 sales dip below Xbox 360

The NPD Group has released its hardware sales data for the month of November 2009, showing that recent surge in PlayStation 3 sales has stalled, with Sony's console once again selling less than the Xbox 360.

The Xbox 360 sold 819,500 units in the US in November, up substantially from the 249,700 it sold in October due primarily to the holiday season. The PlayStation 3 sold 710,400 which, while also an improvement over October, was not enough to keep it ahead of the competition.

As is usual, Nintendo's DS and Wii consoles topped the chart, with 1.7 and 1.26 million sold respectively.

"While there has been a lot of focus on Wii sales as compared to last year, the system was still the best-selling console system by a margin of 54 per cent," said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

"At this same point in the PS2 lifecycle, the PS2 was down in unit sales by 23 per cent over the previous year, but as history has shown, it continues to have a great deal of life left in it. So focusing on a comparison to Wii's stellar 2008 performance masks the reality of just how well this system is selling."

The full hardware chart follows.

1. Nintendo DS - 1,700,000
2. Nintendo Wii - 1,260,000
3. Xbox 360 - 819,500
4. PlayStation 3 - 710,400
5. PlayStation Portable - 293,900
6. PlayStation 2 - 203,100

http://www.gamesindustry.biz/article...below-xbox-360