Nintendo said on Thursday it now expects to sell 27.5 million units of its Wii game console in the year to March, up from its previous target of 26.5 million units.
Sales of the Wii in the fiscal first half to September came in at 10.1 million units.
Nintendo stood by its existing annual sales forecast for the DS handheld player of 30.5 million units. The DS's first-half sales totalled 13.73 million units.
Grandma would be aware of "Wii" name (since her friend might have that console) and she will NOT be aware of X360 name (I doubt that lots of grandma have it), so I think the choice is clear to her : a console that her grand children and she herself could play together is going to win against a console that she couldn't play together with her grand children (unless the grand children spefically ask for X360, which is a different scenario and will generate different decision).
I decided to stay out of Wii future stock in Nov & Dec. The possible gain and possible risk are almost the same, so no investment from me. I prefer to invest in something much less risky, even if it can only generate less profit margin.
I honestly believe that the videogame industry is fairly recession resistant to a point. Parents will usually do whatever they can to provide for their children. So far there have been no signs that the problems with the economy are significantly slowing console sales, i mean everything is up year on year, including software. What evidence is there that demand has dropped significantly?
"2.Market Saturation / plateauing demand."
I really dont think that we have reached anywhere near market saturation with the Wii yet, and again ive seen no evidence that suggests demand is dropping. Reggie said in the article below your post that supply probably wont meet demand this holiday period, and if there's going to be 1.5million Wii's on shelves, the vast majority will sell. If as you suggest sales are only 1.2million then 300,000 will still be sitting on shelves, highly unlikely i believe.
I agree. But when it comes to impulse purchases - or when Grandma is perusing the video game isle for a Christmas gift and sees a $200 console and a $250 one, the choice is less clear.
Wii is still the "budget" console of choice (for the majority at least), which is why I think it will still gain ground - a 20% increase in already outstanding sales is nothing to cry about. But a 50% increase would greatly surprise me.
@oznerol, I'd make that a "psudo-sub-$200" console. With the new dashboard, a storage solution is mandatory. I think the death-nell has sung for the Arcade SKU.
Also, add to that the fact that Microsoft now has a sub-$200 console available - those buying a console with cost being the bottom line will have more options available to them.
You seriously expect a 50% increase in Wii sales compared to last year based solely on a ratio of Wiis produced to Wiis sold? There's a bit more to it than that.
I'd be really surprised if we saw those kind of numbers (1.7 million!) I suspect more around the 1.2 million area - which is a 20% increase - due primarily to the sheer availability of the console.
In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime has hinted that, yet again, the supply for the Nintendo Wii might not meet the demand this holiday. The Regginator (a nickname noted in the article) said that production is up 33% over last year, from 1.6 million consoles per month to 2.4 million.
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