December 2001

U.S. VIDEO GAME INDUSTRY AHEAD OF ITS GAME DESPITE RECESSION

Despite a weakening economy, retail dollar sales of U.S. video game hardware, software and accessories increased 33 percent year-to-date (January-September) 2001, compared to the same time last year, according to a report released November 19th by the NPD Group, Inc., a marketing information provider.

Driven in part by strong PS2 sales and the launch of the new portable Game Boy Advance, the total U.S. video game industry generated over $4.3 billion in revenue during the first nine months of this year, according to the report, while sales during the same time period last year were just over $3.2 billion.

In another report released the same day by The Yankee Group, a technology research and consulting firm, their "Technologically Advanced Family" survey revealed roughly 36 million households in the United States own a video-game console; this is up from approximately 34 million a year ago. The Yankee Group's survey results also indicated that while a significant portion of next-generation video-game console sales is coming from households upgrading their video-game platform, the market is slowly continuing to expand.

While most retail struggled in September, the NPD report ventured that the video game industry not only survived, but thrived because Americans may be spending more time at home due to the tragedies. NPD executive, Richard Ow, went on to predict record sales for 2001, "When we consider that the fourth quarter typically makes up 50 percent or more of the annual dollar sales volume for the video games industry, and then add in the launch of two new console hardware systems, the Microsoft Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, a new record for the video game industry looks likely."

Source: NPDFunworld^SM

Source: NPDFunworld^SM

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