Analyst: 'Wii U Launch has been Slightly Disappointing' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 04 January 2013 / 12,340 Views
Sterne Agee's analyst Arvind Bhatia in an investor note has said that Nintendo new console the Wii did not have a great launch. Hardware and software sales for the new console was below expectations at GameStop. Bhatia added that the $349 Deluxe bundle was more popular than the $299 basic bundle.
"Our conclusion is the Nintendo Wii U launch has been slightly disappointing," Bhatia said. "Keep in mind investor expectations with respect to Wii U were already fairly low going into the launch."
Nintendo of America President Reggis Fils-Aime announced that the console was practically sold out in its North American moving more than 400,00 units. This is just below the 463,000 units the Wii sold in its launch back in November 2006 according to VGChartz. The Wii U also moved just over 300,000 units in its debut in Japan.
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The Wii launch blew away everyone's expectations... so in comparison, being "slightly" disappointed is still OK.
The system has been readily available. Most consumers I've talked to don't seem interested. As far as hype goes, there was plenty going into the launch. Retailers were getting material set up well in advance and reps were going through to make sure the people selling the systems were up to par with what the system could do and the near term prospects.
Sold out according to who? Sorry but their production has got to be putting out more than they say they sold. I'm one of those people who picked theirs up on boxing day(thats December 26 for amerikaners)...walked into the store 2 hours after opening, saw it still in stock and bought it.
I don't think the casual gamers "get" the big new controller and if they've disconnected themselves from what made wii so successful, holy crap is going to be the word of the day.
Arvind Bhatia Aka Patcher! This is clearly just his weekend name for hitting up the Clubs :D Meh the wiiu doing cool enough for something with a fair deal less hype than the original Wii and in a few weeks it will have outsold the Vitas whole first year.
Roflmao
hehe, I thumbed myself down too :) Yay for shits and giggles.
The Vita is a pitiful sight
The Wii U isn't sold out almost anywhere I've looked, you can buy it at Gamestop's site and I've seen the consoles at Walmart and Best Buy
and Target
well he did say slightly so it isn't all that bad.
I can't be dissapointed, if I wasn't even expecting anything in the first place.
against what? this sounds like BS
its selling more than the ps3+360 did combined
What numbers are you seeing?
http://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/post.php?id=4945323
He is probably seeing these numbers, launch-aligned sales. Looks like PS3 + 360 sales through their first two months were 2,431,000. Wii U is at 2,457,000. It has indeed sold more than the PS3 & 360 did combined, barring any dramatic negative adjustments, and the PS3 had a two-week head start.
Against 7 year old consoles :D
No... those are launch-aligned numbers. The Wii U had a more successful LAUNCH than the PS3 and 360 had combined.
Thumbing it down doesn't make it untrue.
The number on this site's charts clearly show the Wii U is selling half the numbers of the PS3 OR Xbox 360 the last three weeks.
Is it your habit to just pull imaginary statistics from thin air?
The number on this site's charts clearly show the Wii U is selling half the numbers of the PS3 OR Xbox 360 the last three weeks.
Is it your habit to just pull imaginary statistics from thin air?
Even if the PS3 had launched worldwide it would still have sold less than the Wii U did in its first weeks. There's a reason it didn't launch worldwide....
However, let's not forget that the PS3 launched at $600 and the Xbox 360 launched at $400. Both were more expensive than the Wii U Deluxe model and was barely beat in launch aligned sales. Plus the economy began crashing by the time the PS3 launched and the 360 hit its first anniversary.
The Wii U has been disappointing in many ways. I don't really care about the sales part of that particular equation. Nintendo TVii is crap, the OS is too slow, it lacks a proper headset. At this point anything less than the Sony PS3 headsets to me are crap.
The wii u is failing bad just like the 3ds expect a price drop, and stealth20k no the wiiu is not selling better than any console except for 360 in japan (obviously)
Six year old last gen Sony and Microsoft consoles BOTH outselling your brand new 'next gen' Wii U console worldwide 2 to 1 over the two weeks leading up to Xmas and the week following Xmas AND having none of your games breaking into the worldwide top ten sales chart over the last three weeks isn't 'slightly disappointing', it's a flat out unmitigated disaster and all the fan boy wails and denials in the world aren't going to change that hard numbers based reality in the slightest. The gaming public IS extremely hungry for the next gen consoles, Google search charts clearly back that up, they're just not interested in NINTENDO's next gen console. Turns out a next gen console consisting of marrying the best selling DS to the best selling Wii isn't a marriage made in marketing heaven, it's a marriage made in marketing hell.
Whatever Sony might be doing, the countdown clock on Major Nelson's site all but guarantees the Xbox 720 will be introduced at E3. That alone will be enough to torpedo whatever Nintendo has planned for E3 to boost Wii U sales. The Xbox 720 (and PS4 it it's a show) will hog the spotlight and PR. Wii U sales will fall off a cliff.
That the Wii U is already a dead console walking isn't a 'partisan attack', it's an objective reality. The Grimm numbers tell the tale.
Those numbers are right here on this site. Look them up. Reality may bite HARD for Nintendo lovers, but it's still REALITY.
You may be right for the west but for Japan you're certainly wrong.
Anyways for the west you may very well be wrong. The 3DS didn't do well in launch period either but Nintendo mitigated that. Who's to say that won't happen here? Being anti-fanboy doesn't make you correct either, it is, as usual, much too early to judge, especially on trends that are so uncertain as the success of Nintendo's home console in the West (which has no definitive trend in its history).
It's not too early. The numbers don't lie. Even most Nintendo fans are sitting on the fence to see what Sony and Microsoft are bringing to the table. Sure, cutting prices would sell more consoles ... for a while, but it's also a clear sign of desperation and a flashing red light to investors. Adding more services and games will help, but also only for a while. It's glaringly obvious people are 'meh' about the console itself, which is, in essence, a showcase of 'been there, done that' gaming technology. A total bonehead move against the 'shock and awe' technology Microsoft and Sony will be bringing to the table. 'been there, done that' vs 'shock and awe' ... no crystal ball needed to see how that turns out.
The gameboy, DS, and Wii were all bonehead moves when it comes to shock and awe, yes even the Wii. Many at first were dooming it for being a weak console with no default trad controller. The gameboy was a very weak system as compared to some of its competitors, yet it outlived them all. The DS was seen as a junk platform in its first year, with barely any attractive games on it (Mario 64 DS and Metroid pinball for example). The PSP was meant to crush it. Yet again, Nintendo takes the world by surprise, the familiar David and Goliath metaphore in play once again by Nintendo.
To be brutally honest, your criticism of Nintendo is a "been there, done that" kind of thing. We've been there, we've heard it said, and we know to take this kind of Nintendo criticism with a grain of salt, because they are extremely unpredictable and use very unorthodox approaches to success. The odds that your prediction will fall flat on its face with the numbers and performance in 2 to 3 years are pretty high actually.
Then the curves for the 3DS and the WiiU beat the curves for the DS and Wii respectively when launches are aligned doesn't help your argument. In the west, sure the WiiU is doing less well than the Wii, but japan is compensating for that, and bear in mind that sales in japan yield higher profit for Nintendo than sales overseas, due to unfavorable currency exchange rates. But sure, the U could do better stateside and in Europe.
As for Sony and MS' shock and awe tech, wherever you bought that crystal ball I'd be interested to buy one too. Do they sell those on ebay by any chance?
It's doing ok well not so much here in UK/Europe but that's more to the lack of No Recomended Retail Price meaning Retailers are charging around £300 for what amounts to fairly low tech. Hell even the Vita sold more and as much as it pains me isn't a big seller.
no it didn't
Didn't Nintendo have more issues releasing the WiiU this fall then the Wii? If it sold out, it sold out, simple as that. There is no better then 100% sold.
DEY DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMBED to have lots of profits
It has beaten PS3 & 360's launch though so I wouldn't say it was doing THAT badly...
Oh no! Slightly dissappointing at 2.5 million by years end??? Already 4.5 million+ units of software sold by years end. DOOM!!!
The PlayStation 3 is better (graphic, multimedia) and have more games, thats why. i'm no more nintendo fan.. disappointing, because the wiiU and games in the future are not good.
Did nintendo really thin they could get away this, the wii was such a gimmick, the game-pad is only useful for getting through menus easily, and where are the games?
