Can Nintendo Sell 5.5 Million Wii U Units By March 31, 2013?

21 responses to “Can Nintendo Sell 5.5 Million Wii U Units By March 31, 2013?”

1. 

   zap

   October 25, 2012 at 9:33 am

   Not to start a hate wagon, but it seems kind of dodgy to me to now turn around and set sales targets when the pre-sale was so large.

   How big *was* the pre-sale anyway? If it was 4.5M consoles in NA, then this target is just a PR/shareholder stunt.

   Reply
   1. 

      foetoid

      October 25, 2012 at 8:44 pm

      Errr, that 5.5 Million is a worldwide figure, i can’t fathom 4.5m just for NA. They’re producing 7 million consoles, so i’d imagine that the 5.5m figure is under-estimating.

      Reply
2. 

   mrtaco

   October 25, 2012 at 9:35 am

   From the 3DS article posted earlier – “From the beginning of April 2012 through the end of September, the 3DS sold 2,090,000 units in Japan, 1,390,000 in America.”

   That’s 3.4 million in six months for a unit that was a year old to begin with, and doesn’t seem to include Europe or any other regions. I reckon they’ll hit this pretty easily, if not smash it.

   Reply
3. 

   oggob

   October 25, 2012 at 9:36 am

   Indeed, I think there will be more than a few families that will upgrade, even if they might not know what the differences are, if they felt the Wii was a positive purchase for them in the past, they will look to jump in.

   My concern is actually with Nintendo though, can they produce 5.5 million units before then? It still is a very lofty number.

   Reply
   1. 

      braaains

      October 25, 2012 at 10:00 am

      But then a lot of those families might look at their Wii purchase and think “we bought that and loved it for a few months or a year but nobody’s touched it for 2 years now”. Especially if they bought it for their kids – those kids are now 5 years older, probably teenagers, and more likely to be wanting a new iPad / iPhone.

      Reply
      1. 

         braaains

         October 25, 2012 at 10:03 am

         Just to clarify – I’m not doubting they can shift those numbers (which really don’t seem like that lofty a target), but it wouldn’t surprise me if 3 or 4 million are the long-time Nintendo loyalists more than the family / casual market that made the Wii such a success. I think it’ll be the second year sales rather than the first 6 months that tell the real tale of the Wii U, for good or bad.

         Reply
   2. 

      foetoid

      October 25, 2012 at 8:52 pm

      They’ve already confirmed they’ll produce 7 million by that time.

      Reply
4. 

   Bongo

   October 25, 2012 at 10:06 am

   Interested, I’ll skip v1.0, see where the price point is at on the first minor/major revision vs new playstation vs new gpu

   Reply
5. 

   tisme

   October 25, 2012 at 10:08 am

   Was unimpressive. Frame rates too low for a new console. Ps3 is a better purchase than wiiu

   Reply
   1. 

      rize

      October 25, 2012 at 10:38 am

      Failtroll.

      Reply
6. 

   sumpunk

   October 25, 2012 at 10:11 am

   they should get there pretty easy.
   i considered getting one for my daughter. but when you take into account a couple of games, classic controller etc. you’re looking at close to $1000 for it.
   i think she can wait for a price drop on this one. just like i’m waiting for a price drop on the vita. that, and more than a 3 game catalogue, maybe even third party support here and there.

   Reply
   1. 

      lonewolf

      October 25, 2012 at 11:37 am

      Actually, when you consider that all Wii games will work on the system and probably be upscaled, combined with the fact wiimotes are compatible and probably the previous classic controllers too, you might not be spending as much as you think.
      Besides, you may want to wait for a dealer special, because Nintendo price drops can take a while.

      Reply
   2. 

      tdark

      October 25, 2012 at 12:49 pm

      Yeah I’ve got no idea how you end up with $1000. 3 games and a pro console comes to $670…

      Reply
7. 

   stevorooni

   October 25, 2012 at 10:24 am

   deleted

   Reply
8. 

   Martin

   October 25, 2012 at 10:26 am

   What is MORE interesting is that they also predict they will sell 24 million games in the same period. Maybe…. That the wii u is selling at a loss – now that could be the biggest ninety f up of all time.

   Reply
   1. 

      foetoid

      October 25, 2012 at 9:01 pm

      They’ve already confirmed it IS selling at a loss, but it’ll be selling for a profit within 12 months.

      Reply
9. 

   negativezero

   October 25, 2012 at 10:31 am

   Pretty reasonable goals. It’ll be interesting to see how they’re going in the back end of next year assuming there’s new Microsoft and/or Sony hardware coming out though.

   Reply
10. 

    frycook48

    October 25, 2012 at 3:47 pm

    If the 3DS could do it, why not Wii-U? Interesting to see how long till the new XBox and PS aswell..

    Reply
11. 

    terrak

    October 25, 2012 at 6:25 pm

    The main thing is that they have the games that make the Wii U stand out. If there a exclusive experiences on the Wii U that consumers want it should have no problem reaching or exceeding the target. If it doesnt do well (which is unlikely IMO) sony and microsoft will be in trouble too. Consoles are in the same boat this time, and they are fighting against the tablet and phone market for your entertainment dollars a fight they seem to be slowly losing. Nintendo was smart, fight fire with fire, hence the integration of tablet in the controller. This might make it easier for gamers to transition from tablets/phones to consoles.

    Its a masterstroke really. Think about it, tablets/phones are selling by the containership load and alot of people game on those devices because the touch screen makes gaming ‘easier’ (touch screen only controls suck imo compared to other control methods) but those gaming experiences on the phone or tablet are mainly short and shallow experiences on small screens. In comes the Nintendo Wii U, it has the touch screen people are mostly used to and now introduces them to the more precise and accurate analog controls and buttons (and the motion control Wii introduced) and some other new things too, and games with more richer and fuller gaming experiences on your big screen TV! bingo opportunity to bring in casual gamers into the console market (well thats the plan) that have had a taste of gaming on tablets/phones – great strategy IMO. So to all those fools who still think Nintendo is ruining console gaming think again. They are trying to save it from tablets and phone gaming, which will remain the biggest threat Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft’s console’s will face.

    Reply
    1. 

       Major Beauner

       October 26, 2012 at 5:02 pm

       You sir, are on the money!

       Reply
12. 

    Nerm

    October 25, 2012 at 9:24 pm

    If they release a new Pokemon Snap for the Wii U, they’ll hit that sales mark easily.

    Reply