While the Xbox 360, bolstered by the new slim model, has been seeing some nice increases, Wii hardware sales were flat in July and, importantly, Wii software sales fell by $41 million. PS3 and 360 software, meanwhile, seems to be faring much better.
Wii's casual customer base just doesn't appear to be buying as many games. That's not good news for retailer GameStop, which is expected to report its Q2 earnings this Thursday, but Janco Partners analyst Mike Hickey sees the impending launches of PlayStation Move and Microsoft's Kinect as catalysts for GameStop and the industry overall.
"We expect the new motion based accessories form Sony and Microsoft, will likely accelerate their respective installed bases over the medium term, which should benefit GameStop, offset by the unwinding of the Wii casual market," he noted.
Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter recently said that the Wii's decline is definitely to blame in part for the industry's slump this year so far.
