Science & Technology
Electronic Arts, Activision Blizzard, Take Two Interactive Software, Microsoft and Walt Disney
CHICAGO--([ BUSINESS WIRE ])--Zacks.com Analyst Blog features: Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: [ ERTS ]), Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: [ ATVI ]), Take Two Interactive Software Inc. (Nasdaq: [ TTWO ]), Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: [ MSFT ]) and Walt Disney (NYSE: [ DIS ]).
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Here are highlights from Fridaya™s Analyst Blog:
Video Game Sales Slide in June
After tepid gains in May, video game sales again declined in June 2010. However, this fall was in line with the Wall Street analystsa™ expectations.
According to research firm NPD, retail sales of hardware, software and accessories in the U.S. decreased 6.0% year over year to $1.1 billion. Software sales declined 15.0% year over year to $531.3 million, considerably weaker than the analystsa™ expectations.
Historically, the first quarter (April, May and June) has always been the seasonally weak quarter for the Video game industry. We believe the lack of new game releases, especially from the big third-party publishers such as Electronic Arts Inc. (Nasdaq: [ ERTS ]) and Activision Blizzard Inc. (Nasdaq: [ ATVI ]) led to the disappointing results.
Take Two Interactive Software Inc.a™s (Nasdaq: [ TTWO ]) title Red Dead Redemption, which was released in May, remained the top seller for the month of June, followed by Nintendoa™s Super Mario Galaxy 2.
Red Dead Redemption sold more than 963,000 units for Microsoft Corp.a™s (Nasdaq: [ MSFT ]) Xbox 360, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 sold more than 548,400 units for the Nintendo Wii.
Two games released in June 2010 made to the Top 10 seller list of the month: Toy Story 3 released by Walt Disney (NYSE: [ DIS ]) for Nintendo DS handheld ranked #7, and Warner Brothera™s release The Lego: Harry Potter: Years 1-4 ranked #9.
Despite weak software results, hardware results were encouraging. According to NPD data, hardware sales inched up 5.0% year over year to $401.7 million.
Microsoft launched a new small and sleek Xbox 360 model with more storage space in the month of June at a lower price, driving better results, according to NPD analysts.
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