Redmond (WA) - Adding to a successful year for Nintendo, the video game company has announced that it has now sold over 10 million DS handhelds during its 26 months at retail, averaging about one unit sold every seven seconds since its 2004 debut.

Sparked by an increase in popularity with the slimmer DS Lite, the new milestone points to the fact that the DS is the fastest-selling console in the world, and sustains Nintendo’s dominance in the handheld market.

The worldwide figure for the system is 35.6 million units, with Japan grabbing the most share at 14.4 million units. As of the end of 2006, its main competitor, Sony’s PSP, has sold about 22 million units across the globe.

Another important part of the DS growth is its presence among the non-traditional crowd. Brain Age, which has seen sales of about five million copies, targets the middle-age-and-beyond crowd, and has actually seen success in that demographic, making Nintendo the almost exclusive company to really make a mark in that crowd.

The DS also became a really hot-selling holiday gift, clearing retail stock left and right, a designation it was not necessarily expected to achieve during the final two months of 2006. The DS Lite is currently available in the US in Onyx, Pearl, and Coral Pink. Nintendo has officially phased out the original version of the DS.