August NPD Hardware: PS3 closes gap on 360

Only 5,400 units separate the two HD consoles.

With a mid month price cut, Sony's PS3 has managed to sell only 5,400 units fewer than Microsoft's Xbox 360 console, and with the full effect of the PS3 Slim to come in September signs are positive for the console.

According to figures published by the NPD Group, the PS3 sold 210,000 units over the August sales period, compared to 215,400 Xbox 360 units and 277,400 Wii units. The PS3 price cut came towards the latter part of the month and PS3 Slim units only began to show up in North American retailers in the final few days of the month - August NPD data tracked sales until August 29.

"The price cuts implemented on the PS3 and 360 hardware already made an impact on unit sales, despite having been executed fairly late in the month. It will be interesting to see the full impact of the new price points on September sales," commented NPD analyst Anita Fraizer.

The Nintendo DS shifted 552,900 units, the PSP 140,300 units and the PS2 105,900 units.

"All hardware systems with the exception of the PS2 realised an increase in unit sales over July," said Fraizer. "The PS3 captured the greatest increase month-over-month with unit sales boosted by 72% over July levels."

Commenting on the declining dominance of the Wii, Fraizer added: "There is a lot of speculation about Wii and whether Nintendo will take a price cut as sales comps to last year show declines. I do think it's interesting to note that the Wii is still selling at levels comparable to what the PS2 was doing at about this point in its lifecycle."