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In yesterdays post, I mentioned NPD’s newly released sales statistics for the gaming industry. The Nintendo’s Wii again led the race on next-generation consoles. Nintendo also led in the portables category. For those looking for just the numbers, here is the tops of the NPD report:

North American Hardware Sales:

1. Nintendo DS: 508K
2. Sony PlayStation 2: 280K
3. Nintendo Wii: 259K (2.1 million total)
4. Microsoft Xbox 360: 199K (5.3 million total)
5. Sony PSP: 180k
6. Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 148K
7. Sony PlayStation 3: 130K (1.2 million total)
8. Nintendo Gamecube: 22K

North American Software Sales:

1. God of War II (PS2): 833K
2. Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 (Xbox 360): 394K
3. Guitar Hero II w/guitar (Xbox 360):291K
4. Wii Play w/remote (Wii): 273K
5. Motorstorm (PS3): 199K
6. Diddy Kong Racing (DS): 189K
7. Spectrobes (DS): 165K
8. Major League Baseball 2K7 (Xbox 360): 165K
9. MLB ‘07: The Show (PS2): 164K
10. Def Jam Icon (Xbox 360): 148K

A couple weeks ago, I went looking to purchase a Nintendo Wii for my two nieces.  I was sold on the concept of the Wii’s interface.  Its relative ease of use (as compared to the increasingly complex controllers on many consoles) meant even my three year old niece could play. There were also games that could span generations; games that could be played by video game phobic grandparents, parents and children.  It was something, it seemed, all could enjoy.

On principle I refuse to pay the premiums sellers ask for a Wii on eBay.  Instead, I went store to store.  Over the course of ten days, I made fifty phone calls to different stores.  A few times I was laughed at when I asked if a store had, or was getting more, Wii’s in stock. Once I was hung up on.  Mostly, I was politely brushed off for my seeming ignorance. 

According to staff I questioned on the floor at both Toys R Us and Best Buy, stores have little control of their inventory.  The highly demanded Wii’s are dropped shipped to them directly, and the allocation of units per store is not specified – though typically it’s less than 12 units per store per shipment.   Those shipments are rarely publicized.  There’s no need for promotion.   If there is any promotion or advertising, it is usually limited – an ad in a Sunday paper for Wii’s that were on sale that day were likely gone by the time the ad was read with your morning coffee.

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Ebay (NASDAY: EBAY), reported a rise in profits in Q1 earnings.

Net income ws up $377.2m (.27c/share) over $248.3m (17c) for the same period last year on income of $1.77m (above analysts’ expectations of $1.72m).

The Paypal payments division showed growth with revenue up 31% to revenues of $439m.  The communications division, home of Skype, showed revenue of  $ 79m  (up from $66m in Q4).  Skype saw an 11% increase in calls and a 135% increase of fees, numbers I suspect, much lower, than eBay has been hoping for.

While profit margins were up, along with revenue and that was spun as a very positive piece of news, auction volume in the increasingly efficient auction marketplace was flat.  Non-store listings were up 4% over last year, but down 4% from Q4.  It was the third time in the last four quarters eBay failed to see quarter-to-quarter growth in auction listings.  Its European focus was also less than expected.

Initial market reaction to the news was mixed.

More detailed press coverage on Ebay’s finances can be found at:

Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Marketwatch

Netflix  (NASDAQ: NFLX), battling with an aggressive marketing campaign from competitor Blockbuster, reported Q1 earnings slightly below expectations and reduced its outlook for the year.

Revenue was up 36% to $305.3m but earnings fell in 2cents below estimates.  The company earned 14cents a share ($9.9m) for the quarter, up substantially from 7 cents a share ($4.4m) for the same period last year.

There were 6.8m total subscribers but churn (customer cancellations) increased to 4.4% from 3.9%in the 4th Quarter

Guidance was adjusted downward to fiscal year revenue of $1.21b to $1.26b, off initial estimates of $1.25-$1.30b and analysts consensus (Thompson) of 41.29b

More detailed press coverage on Netflix’ finances can be found at:

Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Marketwatch

Earlier in the week Accenture released the results of its annual survey of executives in the media and entertainment industries. The survey questioned 110 Senior Executives at advertising, film, music, publishing, radio, Internet, gaming and Television companies. 60 percent of the executives were from North America and 40 percent from Europe.

Among the findings published:

• 32% thought content would drive their revenues, up from 21% in the prior year.
• 53% cited short-form video as having the highest growth potential for their industry over the next 5 years. (13% picked video games, 11% feature-length/long-form film, 11% music, 9% consumer publishing and 4% chose business publishing.)
• 68% of respondents thought they would make money from user-generated content within the next 3 years.

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In  a conference call yesterday, Yahoo and the so called “Newspaper Consortium,” which was formed in November, and  includes more than 250 newspapers across 44 states including the holdings of large publishers like McClatchy and Media News, announced an expansion of their advertising joint venture. (Notably absent from the Consortium are Gannet and Tribune (the two heavyweights). They have been reported to be developing their own Ad Network. McClatchy was going to be part of that effort but switched course to work with Yahoo)

Initially the papers represented in the Consortium and Yahoo worked together in a partnership for job related advertising with Yahoo’s Hot-Jobs property.  Now, in a second part of what has been described as a three part deal, the two will focus on broader, and more lucrative, joint advertising.

Under the terms of the deal, both Yahoo and the papers Click to Read More

James Brown once said “Music has to breathe and sweat. You have to play it live. ” For a long time, I thought the same logic applied to listening. For a real experience, I thought, to really feel it, you had to have the hum of the P.A. speakers and the sway of the crowd. You had to have that spirit, that buzz. 

I rarely go to concerts anymore.  Not too long ago I went to see at least one a month. I’d see U2 every time they came around.  I heard Norah Jones cover AC/DC at the famous Fillmore.  I saw Bonnie Raitt in her home territory at a restored Art Deco theater.  I saw Indie acts, blues greats, aging-rockers, and up and comers.   But I got tired.

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