Retail Software Sales Sluggish Despite Big Releases

Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) Merrill Lynch released its industry update for the interactive media. It noted that the US retail software sales (excluding PC) were down by 3% y/y in November, which was better compared to 18% y/y decline in October.

The recovery in sales was primarily due to some big new releases, especially from Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo. The software sales on Sony (ADR) (NYSE: SNE) PS3 were up 29% y/y, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) xBox 360 were up 25% y/y and Nintendo (ADR) (OTC: NTDOY) Wii were down 18% y/y. Bank of America added that top titles accounted for 52% of the industry sales compared to 46% last year.