[WiiU] Nintendo cuts Wii U sales forecast by 69 percent

[MrBill]

Not a good development for Nintendo. They still sell a ridiculous amount of handheld devices at a console price but they have hit some hard times with the Wii U.

Uh oh: Nintendo cuts Wii U sales forecast by 69 percent
by Don Reisinger
January 17, 2014 6:30 AM PST

The company hoped to sell 9 million Wii U units between April 2013 and March 2014. It now expects to sell just 2.8 million units.

Nintendo is in a world of trouble, and it's not clear what might change its luck.

The game company on Friday announced that it needs to revise its Wii U sales expectations from an anticipated 9 million units sold between April 2013 and March 2014 to 2.8 million units during that period -- a 69 percent drop compared to previous estimates.

Wii U software sales, meanwhile, were halved in the modification, with Nintendo now saying that it expects software sales to hit 19 million units, rather than the 38 million it initially expected.

The trouble isn't just with the Wii U. Nintendo has revised its 3DS sales down to 13.5 million units, compared to 18 million in its previous forecast. Nintendo won't even hit the 2 million Wii units it had hoped to sell, saying instead that it'll only be able to muster 1.2 million unit sales during the period.

Nintendo's admission of trouble is no surprise to those who have been watching the game industry closely. Each month, the Wii U has failed to capture consumer attention in the US, and competing consoles have been doing a far better job appealing to consumers.

Not surprisingly, all of those issues has forced Nintendo to revise its financials down. The company now says that it will lose 25 billion yen ($240 million). Nintendo previously hoped to generate a 55 billion yen profit.

Nintendo chief Satoru Iwata attempted to explain his company's troubles to investors on Friday, writing a long letter explaining the modifications. Pointing to the Wii U, Iwata admitted that sales of its console "were significantly lower than our original forecasts."

So, what's next for Nintendo? In the note to investors, Iwata says he'll have more to share at the end of the month at his company's Corporate Management Policy Briefing. However, according to Bloomberg, Iwata told reporters at a press conference in Osaka today that Nintendo is considering a more drastic change.

"We are thinking about a new business structure," Iwata said, according to Bloomberg. "Given the expansion of smart devices, we are naturally studying how smart devices can be used to grow the game-player business. It's not as simple as enabling Mario to move on a smartphone."

 

[Maynard]

ouch! the kids who loved the wii grew up. kids now are more interested in apps on tablets or smart phones. Even when my kids got the wii they didnt seem to care about it.

nintendo need to work on the next gen and focus more on something more innovative and more for the 13-40 group...not something that is designed for the 5-12 group

 

[JimLeavy59]

Why the hell do you keep bringing up the 3DS when anyone mentions the Wii U is a flop? If anything that further cements why Nintendo is irrelevant when it comes to home consoles.

 

[ThomasTomasz]

Either focus on the handheld market, which they have cornered (if you throw out apps and mobile phone/tablet gaming) or else they have to get with the times and put together a powerful machine to compete with Sony and MS. They have the first party games to hang in there, and would get the third party support if they had comparable tech.

 

[Swarley]

Why the hell do you keep bringing up the 3DS when anyone mentions the Wii U is a flop? If anything that further cements why Nintendo is irrelevant when it comes to home consoles.

B/c the 3DS is keeping the company from falling apart, that's why. B/c of the 3DS success, they'll have the chance to put something else out there after they give up on the Wii U.


Anyways... Iwata needs to go. It's time for someone else to run that company.

 

[JimLeavy59]

B/c the 3DS is keeping the company from falling apart, that's why. B/c of the 3DS success, they'll have the chance to put something else out there after they give up on the Wii U.


Anyways... Iwata needs to go. It's time for someone else to run that company.

That'll be like SEGA abandoning 32X, and the Saturn. the backlash from the consumers would kill any chance they had at being relevant in the home consoles market.

 

[OnlyOneBeerLeft]

I love my WiiU, but I have it, it's a shame they can't get people to buy it, I still have a feeling it may have a sort fo revival with Donkey Kong, Super Smash, and Mario Kart around the corner, but if those 3 and some teasers for a new Zelda don't get people excited then I don't see what will, I know I would pay any amount of money to see Nintendo beef up its systems to match the next gen and play a Zelda game with that tech, I think we'd see detailed environments similar to Skyrim. Will probably never happen though.

 

[TeflonDonny]

Nintendo should focus on handhelds and pushing software to the XBOne and PS4. My son doesn't go anywhere without his DS and would be happy if he could play the games he likes on my PS4. But I'm not buying a WiiU just for him.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

B/c the 3DS is keeping the company from falling apart, that's why. B/c of the 3DS success, they'll have the chance to put something else out there after they give up on the Wii U.
Anyways... Iwata needs to go. It's time for someone else to run that company.

Momentum from handhelds , people still associated with Wii and not knowing/caring about WiiU , and there plethora of icon games means if they are calculated they can still do something in the home market. Even if its something wild like a super cheap console where all games are streamed.

 

[Glenbino]

Should have had flagship games like Zelda and Smash Bros. ready to go from launch.

When you close yourself off to a large number of third party developers because of your family friendly approach to console gaming, then it's on you to make sure you have compelling games to introduce new platforms.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

 

[Twigg4075]

Ouch.

Nintendo seriously screwed the pooch by calling the fucking thing the WiiU. The average consumer had no idea what the fuck it was and most assumed it was just an add on for the Wii which they had already grown tired of. They should've just called it something entirely different and probably also debuted at $300 with a game like they are now, or maybe even $250.

 

[Derrville]

I love my WII U.. its probably my favorite Console ATM and I play it hooked up to the Xbox One.

 

[KINGOFOOTBALL]

Should have had flagship games like Zelda and Smash Bros. ready to go from launch.

When you close yourself off to a large number of third party developers because of your family friendly approach to console gaming, then it's on you to make sure you have compelling games to introduce new platforms.

Sent from my HTC6500LVW using Tapatalk

Am I nuts or haven't Nintendo console successes depended entirely on a first party killer game near launch ?
I was under the impression the more successful 3rd party games were always much later in the console lifespan (8 bit being the exception)

 

[Raidersabc123]

To me Nintendo is old and done! All of its first party game are so repetitive its sick. How many times does Mario have to save the princess from Bowser, Zelda finds a bow, zelda finds a sword etc etc