wiiu February Wii U Sales Fall Short of Expectations

[dead.cell]

Report: February Wii U sales appear far short of Nintendo?s hopes

The Wii U?s track record for poorer-than-expected sales grows longer after February, when only 64,000 consoles went off store shelves in the US, according to a report from NPD Group. This is a major shortfall from Nintendo?s sales projections at launch?the company thought it would sell nearly two million units per month worldwide from the beginning of January through the end of March.

The Wii U sold to the tune of 3.06 million units from its launch in November through the end of 2012, according to reports, nearly as many as the original Wii sold in the 2006 holiday season. But sales have fallen off a cliff since, with NPD citing US sales as low as 57,000 units during January.

At the end of January, Nintendo lowered its worldwide sales projections for the first quarter from 5.5 million to 4 million. If US sales are any indication, the company may not even come close to that adjusted number. According to Gamasutra, sales may have taken a hit in January when speculators who bought consoles to resell were not able to make a profit off them.

The Wii U enjoyed some time in the spotlight during the holiday season as the only new console, especially positioned next to the 6-year-old PlayStation 3 and 7-year-old Xbox 360. Now that the PlayStation 4 and Microsoft?s next-gen console codenamed ?Durango? loom large, more consumers may sit back to see what Sony and Microsoft turn out before making a decision.

Source

I saw from the latest update on the Japanese hardware sales thread that even the PSP (no, not PS Vita) was outselling the Wii U.

I don't think enough people realize the console isn't an addon, but a whole new thing. Well, either that, or they're waiting on games...

[n_K]

Can't blame people really.

I'd be interested in getting one but the price for that level of performance puts me off, even if some of the games look amazing (zombie u) it just doesn't work out for me.

Also I noticed that I had a 3DS XL on my amazon cart, not sure why, but it's gone up by ?5 or ?10 according to amazon since I put it in my basket :s

[nekkidtruth]

Is that your Wii U in the picture? Mine is in no better shape :p Haven't touched the thing since December. Someone asked if I would trade it for a Canon Rebel T3 lol

[theyarecomingforyou]

I'm not surprised. It's basically an expensive alternative to the X360 and PS3, only with a fraction of the games and a comically oversized controller. In many respects it's actually much more limited, as the lack of storage makes downloading games and DLC a no-go (the basic model only has 3GB available to the user) and Nintendo's online offering is nowhere near as developed as that of Microsoft and Sony. Even the exclusive games for the Wii U are mostly rehashes / updates of existing titles rather than anything original.

Nintendo would be better off abandoning hardware (like Sega did) and focusing on developing games for other platforms. At this rate it won't have much choice.

[spaceelf]

Nintendo would be better off abandoning hardware (like Sega did) and focusing on developing games for other platforms. At this rate it won't have much choice.

I have many Nintendo loving friends who would disagree. As long as they keep selling first party titles like crazy they've got a market...we'll see if they can keep that market long term.

[theyarecomingforyou]

I have many Nintendo loving friends who would disagree. As long as they keep selling first party titles like crazy they've got a market...we'll see if they can keep that market long term.

Nobody is disputing that there are a lot of Nintendo fans out there but it's a matter of whether it is more profitable to tie games to their own console or to develop for the Xbox, PlayStation and PC. Both of Nintendo's recent hardware releases - the 3DS and Wii U - have significantly underperformed expectations and the games market is rapidly evolving. With mobiles and tablets eating into handheld sales, and with Sony and Microsoft spending big money to develop exclusives and to subsidise their console offerings, Nintendo has less room to manoeuvre. Supporting a console is a much more risky endeavour than games development.

[ahhell]

Monster Hunter should help sales (especially in Japan).

Lego City Undercover should help as well.

The Wii-U needs a solid system seller.

[Blackhearted]

I'm not surprised. It's basically an expensive alternative to the X360 and PS3, only with a fraction of the games and a comically oversized controller. In many respects it's actually much more limited, as the lack of storage makes downloading games and DLC a no-go (the basic model only has 3GB available to the user) and Nintendo's online offering is nowhere near as developed as that of Microsoft and Sony. Even the exclusive games for the Wii U are mostly rehashes / updates of existing titles rather than anything original.

The basic model wii u is akin to the 4gb xbox 360. It's the model for the casuals. Casuals are unlikely to download tons of games or even play games that have lots of dlc.

Nintendo would be better off abandoning hardware (like Sega did) and focusing on developing games for other platforms. At this rate it won't have much choice.

That wont happen. No matter how much the fans of the other platforms want it to. I'm pretty sure i recall something from a while back with Iwata himself saying they wont go third party like you want them to.

Also, nintendo isn't even remotely close to being in the same position sega was. Sega went third party cause of the string of failures back to back after the genesis. Where as nintendo has had nothing but successes with their past 3 platforms prior to the wii u's launch(wii, ds, 3ds). Once they get the games issue sorted the wii u will most likely be just fine as well.

With mobiles and tablets eating into handheld sales

The 3ds is doing just fine. Despite the claims of phone games being the doom of proper handheld gaming platforms. And it will only get better over the course of this year.

[spaceelf]

What he's saying is with dwindling popularity they may be forced to make that choice at some point...whatever they claim, they don't seem to be doing very well at the moment.

3DS sure, but Wii U?

Did it come out? I forget ;)

[HawkMan]

Monster Hunter should help sales (especially in Japan).

Lego City Undercover should help as well.

The Wii-U needs a solid system seller.

As a Wii U owner, it needs more than two games. and while the lego game is probably good and I would enjoy it, it's not something I'd pay for :(

[ahhell]

As a Wii U owner, it needs more than two games. and while the lego game is probably good and I would enjoy it, it's not something I'd pay for :(

So why did you buy a Wii-U if you don't like any of the games?

[~Johnny]

I don't think enough people realize the console isn't an addon, but a whole new thing.

To be fair, Nintendo seem to have decided to lay off the advertising until they've actually got some games out. Not that I expect much from their advertising department when the time comes, but who knows.

Also, these sales don't fall that far from Nintendo's internal hopes - at this rate they can still actually reach their reduced forecast they put out a few weeks back, so they were expecting it.

[theyarecomingforyou]

The basic model wii u is akin to the 4gb xbox 360. It's the model for the casuals. Casuals are unlikely to download tons of games or even play games that have lots of dlc.

The X360 was released seven years ago when large downloads were uncommon and digital distribution was in its infancy. Even then Microsoft provided models with dramatically more storage than even Nintendo's top offering for the Wii U. As for casual users, services like iTunes and Amazon are incredibly popular for purchasing and downloading media and are certainly aimed at the casual market. And digital distribution is only going to become more important going into the future - if Steam was in its infancy back when the X360 was released then imagine what the landscape will be like five years from now.

That wont happen. No matter how much the fans of the other platforms want it to. I'm pretty sure i recall something from a while back with Iwata himself saying they wont go third party like you want them to.

Of course Nintendo is going to deny that possibility, as it has to look confident to its shareholders and consumers. Sega wasn't planning to leave the console business either but circumstances changed.

The 3ds is doing just fine. Despite the claims of phone games being the doom of proper handheld gaming platforms. And it will only get better over the course of this year.

It's being outsold by the PS Vita in Japan, which really shows how much Nintendo's influence has diminished over recent years. No longer is Nintendo the undisputed champion of handheld gaming - it's just one of many companies vying for market share.

Obviously Nintendo isn't going to abandon the Wii U?it has far too much invested in it?but Nintendo was relying on the period before the release of the PS4 and X720 to establish its market share and that really isn't looking good. And unlike the Wii the Wii U is being sold at a loss, which means that dropping the price is a risky move.

[dead.cell]

To be fair, Nintendo seem to have decided to lay off the advertising until they've actually got some games out. Not that I expect much from their advertising department when the time comes, but who knows.

Also, these sales don't fall that far from Nintendo's internal hopes - at this rate they can still actually reach their reduced forecast they put out a few weeks back, so they were expecting it.

Well, I'm morely speaking from my own experience in retail when customers ask. Between the DS, DS Lite, DSi, DSi-XL, 3DS, 3DS-XL, and now Wii and Wii U, it's easy to see how one might consider it to be a simple remodel or something, as opposed to a whole new console.

[HawkMan]

So why did you buy a Wii-U if you don't like any of the games?

I didn't say I didn't like any of the games. I do. but you don't buy a system for a couple of games, and my GF bought it for us for our xmas present. I was set to wait for more games and or a price drop. As it is we still need to buy more controllers to play two player. doesn't help that you need so many different controllers to play multi in different games.

[Blackhearted]

It's being outsold by the PS Vita in Japan, which really shows how much Nintendo's influence has diminished over recent years. No longer is Nintendo the undisputed champion of handheld gaming - it's just one of many companies vying for market share.

Barely. Being outsold by about a mere 4% last week(march 4-10) is hardly enough to say that nintendo is falling from the handheld market. Especially when you compare the install base of the two.

Also, many companies? Last i checked their only competition when it comes to proper gaming remains sony.

[theyarecomingforyou]

Barely. Being outsold by about a mere 4% last week(march 4-10) is hardly enough to say that nintendo is falling from the handheld market. Especially when you compare the install base of the two.

Also, many companies? Last i checked their only competition when it comes to proper gaming remains sony.

It's significant because Nintendo has traditionally had very little competition in the handheld market. As for "proper gaming", mobiles and tablets cannot be ignored - they have seen huge growth and there are new and more powerful devices being released all the time. The 3DS still has a good position in the market but Nintendo had to slash 29% off its sales forecast for 3DS software - that's concerning when it's one of the company's main sales drivers. The 3DS is the first Nintendo device I can recall under-performing at launch and Nintendo has posted losses for the past two years. If the 3DS and Wii U continue to underperform then Nintendo may have to explore other avenues.

[~Johnny]

It's significant because Nintendo has traditionally had very little competition in the handheld market. As for "proper gaming", mobiles and tablets cannot be ignored - they have seen huge growth and there are new and more powerful devices being released all the time. The 3DS still has a good position in the market but Nintendo had to slash 29% off its sales forecast for 3DS software - that's concerning when it's one of the company's main sales drivers. The 3DS is the first Nintendo device I can recall under-performing at launch and Nintendo has posted losses for the past two years. If the 3DS and Wii U continue to underperform then Nintendo may have to explore other avenues.

Nintendo lost about ?20 million last year... they have about ?900 billion in cash. They could go on losing money to that degree for decades and not sweat it - so being forced to explore other avenues any time soon is extremely unlikely.

It's also worth noting, that there a number of times where the PSP outsold the DS on a monthly basis in Japan, and we know the huge difference in overall sales between the two systems. The Vita is being bouyed by the release of a popular game - it unfortunately doesn't have the momentum to keep it's sales there, and the 3DS will almost certainly be back on top next month.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Ya plus, it won't REALLY start to sell until it's hacked. The moment I saw how easy it was to hack the wii and put the homebrew channel on it is when I bought mine. Also had it hacked 30 mins after that :)

[HawkMan]

Nintendo lost about ?20 million last year... they have about ?900 billion in cash. They could go on losing money to that degree for decades and not sweat it - so being forced to explore other avenues any time soon is extremely unlikely.

It's also worth noting, that there a number of times where the PSP outsold the DS on a monthly basis in Japan, and we know the huge difference in overall sales between the two systems. The Vita is being bouyed by the release of a popular game - it unfortunately doesn't have the momentum to keep it's sales there, and the 3DS will almost certainly be back on top next month.

shareholders are not that forgiving. they don't care about cash stockpile they care if it grows or is being used for new developments. if they lose money, then they will force the company to make changes.

Personally I think the era of the dedicated handheld gaming devices are over. no mobiles are not a replacement, they may have the power, but they're no gaming devices. but people don't care, they don't want a mobile gaming device, they want a mobile device that can give them simple games. i they want actual games, they have a console or computer for that.

And no, by this I don't mean that handheld devices will be gone overnight. just that they will gradually shrink away. and at most we will see another generation, perhaps not that (excepting upgrades to the current generation). Sony I really doubt will try for another, and wil instead focus on phones.

Ya plus, it won't REALLY start to sell until it's hacked. The moment I saw how easy it was to hack the wii and put the homebrew channel on it is when I bought mine. Also had it hacked 30 mins after that :)

Doesn't really effect sales. you are a VERY small minority. The large majority have no interest and don't care about hacking their consoles, and for the minority, when they do, homebrew certainly isn't what they want.

[Growled Member]

Barely. Being outsold by about a mere 4% last week(march 4-10) is hardly enough to say that nintendo is falling from the handheld market. Especially when you compare the install base of the two.

4% of thousands of consoles doesn't seem like that much of a difference.

[dead.cell]

Ya plus, it won't REALLY start to sell until it's hacked. The moment I saw how easy it was to hack the wii and put the homebrew channel on it is when I bought mine. Also had it hacked 30 mins after that :)

Sad thing is, my friend hacked his Wii too (his console, I mean), and it still never got much attention beyond a couple weeks or so. :/

As for Nintendo, I'm willing to bet we'll see a repeat of what happened with the Wii being left behind in terms of third party developers. Yes, the Wii was and is still a success, but not in the terms of what I'm wanting from them. Really, I just want to be able to buy a Nintendo console that will be able to play most games. Apparently, that's too much to ask for, or perhaps I'm not the target audience. Not really sure on this one...

[theyarecomingforyou]

Apparently the Wii U is selling worse now than the X360 or PS3 ever did. Looking at the upcoming games list there just doesn't seem to be anything much coming out, let alone exclusive to the Wii U. The new Zelda game isn't due out until the end of the year and that's really the best upcoming title, so I really don't know what Nintendo can do short of slashing the price - something publishers have been asking for.

[compl3x]

I won't be buying until a price cut or a hardware revision.

[Dotdot]

Needs more marketing, a lot more marketing in fact and if they cant get triple A 3D titles due to development cycles yadda yadda, then why not emphasize and build your virtual console or release more live games?