latest devices computer equipment computer news hi tech device latest tech tool

Nintendo’s Wii gaming console is still blasting its competition, with sales reaching record levels during the 2009 holiday season, but the popular, motion-sensing system is losing ground to Sony’s PlayStation and Microsoft’s Xbox.

The Kyoto, Japan-based company saw revenues drop 9.4 percent and earnings drop 23 percent in the three-quarter period ending in December 2009, compared to last year, according to figures released Thursday.

In the fiscal year ending in March, the company anticipates a drop in profits from $6.1 billion last year to $4.1 billion.

Although holiday shoppers grabbed a whopping 3.81 million Wii systems, far more than the 1.31 million Xbox 360s and 1.36 million PlayStation 3 units sold in December, profits dropped considering Nintendo lowered the console’s price from $250 to $200. Converting weak dollars into the stronger Japanese yen plus impacted the company’s bottom line.

Although it introduced a new version of the DS portable console last year, overall sales of the handheld device

were down about two million from the year prior, with more than 23 million sold. Wii sales reached more than 17 million in the period ending Dec. 31, about three million less than the previous year.

Been There, Done That

Nintendo’s troubles could be a sign that gamers are looking ahead to a new era.

“We are several years into the current generation of home consoles, and at that stage most of the public who want a Wii already have one,” said Steve Koenig, director of industry analysis for the Consumer Electronics organization. “The reason Microsoft and Sony are gaining is considering the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation are really media portals, and there is media substance that comes with Xbox Live.”

Koenig said the recent partnership of Nintendo with Netflix to offer streaming movies through the console reflects the trend that games alone are no longer adequate.

“The Wii has…

Original post by dhiram