Nintendo sold 600,000 DSi handheld in Europe, US at launch

Sales of Nintendo's DSi handheld device reached around 300,000 units in both Europe and the U.S. during its first two days on sale last week, the company's president said Thursday.

The product went on sale in Australia on April 2, Europe on April 3 and the North America on April 5.

"These early launch results supplant the launch sales of the previous versions of the Nintendo DS," said Satoru Iwata, president of Nintendo. "They show us that the DSi has received a warm welcome around the world."

The DSi is an update to the popular DS Lite handheld that's been on sale for a couple of years. It's been slimmed down with the removal of a slot for GameBoy Advance cartridges. In addition, the two screens are slightly larger, two digital cameras have been added and there's a music player function.

Nintendo launched the DSi, the third version of the DS product line, as sales of the DS Lite began to drop in Japan. It's succeeded in turning around falling sales and has already sold more than 2 million in its first five months on sale in Japan.

Importantly for Nintendo, it's also more expensive. The DSi costs US$170 versus $130 for the DS Lite.

Combined sales of the three versions of the DS total more than 100 million units since their launch, and Nintendo is continuing to push the handheld towards a goal of one DS per person in Japan. Its surveys show an average of 2.8 DS users per Japanese household, but only 1.8 handhelds in each of those houses, giving it hope that it can sell a significant number of devices to users sharing a DS with other family members.

While sharing of the handheld may be possible around the same house, it becomes more difficult if users carry it with them all the time -- thus a new push to make the DS useful outside of the home.

Nintendo expanded the new DSi beyond pure gaming with the inclusion of digital cameras and a music player, and more is planned.

"Our key theme now is enabling users to make their lives easier if they have their DS," said Shigeru Miyamoto, who heads Nintendo's entertainment division. "An important point is that users should be able to get this service without software but just by carrying their handheld. There are lots of technical hurdles and it requires about the same amount of energy as making a new game."

Starting with a guide service from April 28th at the Museum of Kyoto, Nintendo will be rolling out DS-based services across Japan that feed information to DS handhelds, he said.

Nintendo is headquartered in Kyoto, which was capital of Japan for several centuries.

IDG News Service

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