Vita being outsold by PSP and Wii in Europe
Nintendo sales research paints gloomy picture for Sony handheld.
The Vita is currently being outsold by the both the Wii and PSP in Europe, according to sales research conducted by Nintendo.
The platform holder included a graph in its recent financial briefing showing individual system performance across the continent for the last three months.
According to the data, which Nintendo president Satoru Iwata explained is "based on sales information by market research companies in each European country," PlayStation 3 comes out on top, with 3DS and Xbox 360 neck and neck in second, Wii in fourth, PSP in fifth, Vita in sixth and DS in second.
It appears that the Vita is selling around 25,000 units a week, compared to roughly 70,000 PlayStation 3s.
"Although the Nintendo 3DS has recently increased its weekly sales, it is far from a satisfactory level," said Nintendo president Satoru Iwata of the company's own performance.
Iwata also went into greater detail on software sales in specific European countries.
"The UK market is virtually the only market in Europe where the Xbox 360 has a strong presence," he told investors.
"In fact, it dominates the PlayStation 3, and it is in stark contrast to the other European markets. The top-selling titles for the Wii tell us that dance games continue to be popular this year.
"Although there are six titles for the Nintendo platforms, the two Mario titles for the Nintendo 3DS have the smallest presence in the world. We need to promptly improve this situation."
The picture is slightly different over in the US. According to another of Nintendo's graphs, this one based on hard NPD sales data, Xbox 360 is out in the lead, followed by PlayStation 3, then 3DS, with Vita following closely behind in fourth. Next is Wii, then DS, with PSP all but dead and buried in last place.
"The Nintendo 3DS, which now has an overwhelming presence in Japan, also has the largest share in the US handheld game market," commented Iwata.
"However, considering that the US market is two or three times the size of its Japanese equivalent, I believe that the sales of the Nintendo 3DS in the US are far below the level that it could potentially reach. Also, unlike Japan, the United States still has a relatively large market for the Nintendo DS."
The situation in Japan is in stark contrast to both the US and Europe, with handheld gaming dominating the market.
Sales tracker MediaCreate has 3DS way out in front, followed by PlayStation 3, then PSP, then Vita, Wii, DS and Xbox 360.
See all three charts below.
For a full rundown of Nintendo's annual financial statement, see our report from yesterday.
