Sony And Microsoft Sweat: Nintendo's Wii Rocket

Stocks: (MSFT)(SNE)

Research firm NPD says that Nintendo sold over 476,000 units of its new Wii platform in the US in November. Sony Playstation 3 sold 197,000 in the same period. Both were introduced mid-month. Microsoft Xbox, which was on sale for the entire month, sold 511,000.

The news is probably neutral for Xbox 360, which has not gotten off to a much better start than the original Xbox, but is holding its ground as Sony seems to be slipping.

The figures once again raise the question of when Playstation 3 sales will begin the sharp pick up that will keep the Sony platform in its traditional No. 1 position.

As the race progresses, coming from behind is going to become much more difficult.

Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.