Ben-DutkaAccording to the latest Famitsu Marketing survey, Sony's PSP is lagging far behind the Nintendo DS in Japan. November saw a staggering gap, with the PSP only managing 86,000 units compared to the unbelievable 550,000 DS Lites that were sold. For the first 11 months of the year, 7.5 million DS and DS Lite's went to happy consumers, while Sony only moved 1.6 million PSPs.
But perhaps the most shocking numbers involve the software. To date, the PSP has sold 2.8 million games while Nintendo has sold a massive 27 million copies. As far as Japan is concerned, that's basically game, set, and match.
But the battle isn't quite as lopsided here in the U.S., even though Nintendo still has quite a big lead. November was a big month for PSP sales, and Nintendo "only" sold twice as many DSs. However, as far as Sony is concerned, they remain confident in their handheld's future. The PSP has had a good year in terms of top-quality software, and if that can continue in 2007, perhaps Sony can cut into Nintendo's lead. …but even then, that might only include the U.S. and Europe. Apparently, a winner has already been crowned in Japan.