April 25, 2005 - New data from The NPD Group shows first-quarter videogame industry sales up an impressive 23 percent over Q1 last year -- at more than $2.2 billion. Total unit sales were also up, increasing 18 percent over 2004's first quarter.
Looking at specific categories, console hardware and software were the slowest to climb, gaining eight and seven percent, respectively. Still, console software saw revenues of $1 billion -- the highest of all categories.
With the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP both thundering through the market, it's no surprise that portable game hardware showed the highest growth, with sales of over $293 million, or 162 percent higher than last year. Portable software sales rose 72 percent, which is only modest next to such strong hardware performance.
Only months ago, some analysts feared an industry slump in the final year before the next wave of consoles, though Sony's PSP was seen as arriving just in time to bolster the industry. The NPD's sales data confirms that story, but also reveals that the console market, especially console software, is still healthy. It looks like the old boxes have plenty of spunk left before their next-gen followers take over.
Como era de esperar por la aparicion de las portatiles.
