Nintendo Tops Sony's Market Value as Wii Outsells PS3

Nintendo Co., the world's largest maker of handheld game players, surpassed Sony Corp. in market value as its Wii home console outsells the rival PlayStation 3.

Shares of Nintendo, based in Kyoto, western Japan, rose 1.8 percent to 46,250 yen as of 10:33 a.m. on the Osaka Securities Exchange, valuing the company at 6.55 trillion yen ($53 billion). Sony stock fell 0.8 percent to 6,500 yen, giving the Tokyo-based company a value of 6.51 trillion yen.



Sony, which overtook Nintendo as the world's biggest console maker after PlayStation 2's introduction in 2000, suffered production delays with the release of its latest player. Wii's lower price, simple games and a wand-like controller that players swing like a sword or tennis racquet have helped Nintendo outsell the PlayStation 3 by five to one since the debut in November.

Sony last month sold 81,600 PlayStation 3 units in the U.S., the world's largest video-game market, while Nintendo sold 338,000, according to data compiled by NPD Group Inc. Microsoft Corp. sold 154,900 of its Xbox 360 machines.

Nintendo, also the maker of DS handheld player, may exceed Sony in sales this year. Nintendo posted revenue of 966.5 billion yen in the year ended March 2007, and forecast 1.14 trillion yen this business year.

Sony reported 1.02 trillion yen in sales at the game business in the past fiscal year. The company didn't disclose a sales forecast for the unit. Sony plans to more than double its software lineup to more than 200 titles worldwide and increase the number of downloadable games this fiscal year to boost sales.
Source :http://www.bloomberg.com