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Nintendo sells 1.5 million Wii, DS units in a week

Company says offering bundles helped spur sales last week. No word yet on how sales of its hardware for the whole month will compare with last year's figures.

Don Reisinger
CNET contributor Don Reisinger is a technology columnist who has covered everything from HDTVs to computers to Flowbee Haircut Systems. Besides his work with CNET, Don's work has been featured in a variety of other publications including PC World and a host of Ziff-Davis publications.
Don Reisinger
2 min read
Nintendo

Nintendo enjoyed an exceptionally strong past week.

The game company announced today that it sold 900,000 DS units and 600,000 Wii consoles in the U.S. from November 21 to 27, according to internal estimates. Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime said that such success means U.S. consumers "bought about 9,000 Nintendo hardware systems non-stop for every hour of every day during the week of Black Friday."

Nintendo's announcement is an important one, considering the issues it has been experiencing over the past few months.

Last month, Nintendo reported a disappointing six-month period from April to September with a loss of $24.6 million. It sold 6.69 million DS units during the period, down from the 11.7 million it sold during the same time last year. It sold 4.97 million Wii units between April and September, representing a decline from the 5.75 million Wii units it sold in 2009.

In response, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata said in an interview with the Associated Press that his company was "not thinking of [a Wii price cut] for the near future." He went on to say that the company's plan was to offer bundles to ramp up demand for its products.

The company currently offers a "Mario-red" Wii option for $199.99, as well as a red Nintendo DSi XL bundle for $179.99. It also sells orange and green Nintendo DSi bundles for $149.99.

Nintendo was quick to point out that its decision to offer such bundles helped spur sales last week.

Although its past week's sales are impressive, the company didn't provide any indication on how its hardware performed for the rest of November. And it will have some work cut out for it to match last year's hardware sales.

Last November, Nintendo sold 1.26 million Wii units and 1.7 million DS units, according to market research firm NPD.