Sony’s PS3 outsold Nintendo’s Wii during the month of March in Japan, the first time it has done so in 16 months. Enterbrain data shows that the PS3 sold 146 948 units in the five weeks of March up until the 29th while the Wii sold just 99 335 units and the Xbox 360 lagged even further behind with 43 172 units.

Nintendo has dominated the hardware charts since the Wii was released in 2006, however, despite the downward sales trend the publisher remains optimistic about the future of the console. “It is still the first few months of the year when sales are slow for the industry, so we are not particularly concerned. We hope to line up strong software to support hardware sales in the second half of the year.”

Across the pond NPD data shows a different story with the Wii outselling the PS3 by almost three to one in the US during February. The Wii topped the hardware chart with 750 000 units while the PS3 trailed in fourth place with 276 000 units.

With cumulative sales of the Wii sitting at 8 million in comparison to the PS3’s 3 million, it’s no wonder Nintendo are not concerned. Add to this the boost in sales the publisher will receive this month thanks to the release of the new DSi in Europe last Friday and this past Sunday across North America, and one can further understand their position. Early Chart Track data shows that the DSi sold 92 000 units across the UK in the first two days of launch.

Analysts believe the PS3 has experienced an increase in sales because a number of popular games were released in March for the PS3 (Yakuza 3 and Resident Evil 5 being two examples that topped the Media Create Chart) that are not available on the Wii. However, Koya Tabata of Credit Suisse does not see this to be a problem since Nintendo could cut the price of the Wii should they choose since the cost to Nintendo of producing a Wii console has fallen by 45% since launch.

Sources: The Financial Times, Reuters