Iwata: Wii U Selling Steadily

by William D'Angelo, posted on 08 January 2013 / 4,478 Views

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata spoke with Reuters about the sales of Nintendo's new home console the Wii U. Iwata has said that sales have been steady, however it is not sold out like the Wii was when it first launched.

"At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn't as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom. But sales are not bad, and I feel it's selling steadily," said Iwata.

One of the challenges he has had to face is the release of two different models. Most consumers are interested in the premium bundle and are having trouble finding them in stores, while the basic model is a lot easier to find.

"It was the first time Nintendo released two models of the game console at the same time ... and I believe there was a challenge with balancing this. Specifically, inventory levels for the premium, deluxe package was unbalanced as many people wanted that version and couldn't find it," said Iwata.

Nintendo said in October that it is aiming to sell 5.5 million Wii U's by March 31, 2013. According to VGChartz latest sales figures, the Wii U has sold 2.45 million units worldwide as of the end of December 29, so the new console will need to sell three million units in three months to achieve the 5.5 million goal.

8 Comments

Ckmlb1 (on 10 January 2013)

There's no way it's going to reach the 5.5 million mark in the timeline they expected which by definition means the sales are a disappointment.

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swii26 (on 09 January 2013)

Things could have gone differently if they only released the one model... demand for the deluxe is much higher than the basic. Still, 5.5 is reachable by March if they release more games.

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RedInker (on 08 January 2013)

5.5 million my end of March is possible.

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BlkPaladin (on 08 January 2013)

So 231k a week. If the week of the 29th is any indication they should make it.

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Yakuzaice (on 08 January 2013)

Selling the same as a week that included two days before Christmas for thirteen weeks straight isn't very realistic. Of course, the 5.5 million is their shipment forecast not sell-through, so it doesn't need to stay quite that high.

nanarchy (on 08 January 2013)

that is a holiday week, unless it was seriously supply constrained then no that is not a good indication.

-1

Podings (on 09 January 2013)

you know you can't complain when Nintendo systems combined are outselling the combined competition. Whether the Wii U picks up is less important to Nintendo in the long run compared to generally staying on top, I would assume.

-1

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Devil_Survivor (on 09 January 2013)

Its outpacing the PS3 and Xbox 360 launches and month after, but below Wii. That's pretty good because it was never going to be the Wii. They should reach the goal of 5.5 million or break it.