Nintendo: 35 million Wiis in US by 2012
The Wii's impressive start has made Nintendo confident--cocky, even--about the console's long-term viability. Today in an interview with the Bloomberg news service, Nintendo of America senior vice president of marketing George Harrison predicted that there would be an installed base of 35 million Wiis in the US by 2012. For comparison purposes, the PlayStation 2 has sold 38.5 million units in the US since its release in October 2000. "Demand is much greater than we anticipated,'' he told Bloomberg. "A year ago no one thought we would be in this position.''
Harrison also brushed off the main criticism of the Wii--namely, that its processing and graphics power are low when compared to its rivals. "We're starting to see in the performance of the PS3 and Xbox 360 that that's not necessarily motivating the market the way it used to,'' he said, also shooting down speculation that a technically upgraded Wii would be launched any time soon. "We're going to start work on future technology only when we believe it's necessary," he said.
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Posters Comment: Seems a little overconfident to me, thats like 6 million every year for six years, i think NOA production would have to go in a different direction (like doubled) for that to happen...
If sales keep going the way the are, by 2012 Sony and Microsoft will have completely ripped the Wii off control wise with their Sony PS3.5 and Microsoft 540... that's if they haven't already released the next gen by then.
lol, the xbox 540, hmmm...maybe ships with a x-mote thats motion sensitive...yeah, good stuff
That's quite a prediction. It'd be absolutely wonderful if that were to come true. I can only imagine the possibilities.
But I wouldn't go countin my chickens just yet. This prediction is assuming that Nintendo can put out much more shipments than they are right now. A LOT more.
That's quite the prediction... Nintendo needs to slow down and come back to Earth.
Not saying its the most accurate, but according to the latest VGChartz.com stats, the Wii has already sold over 7 million consoles worldwide. So we can assume we've got the 6 for this year.
Not saying its the most accurate, but according to the latest VGChartz.com stats, the Wii has already sold over 7 million consoles worldwide. So we can assume we've got the 6 for this year.
but hes saying US sales alone, which is kinda hard to do
US sales alone is a bit steep, worldwide it's possible.
agreed, possible but not easily attained
I honestly wouldn't be suprised. Other sources have predicted 30% of US households. Considering that we were over 100 million households in 2000, 30% of households in 2012 places it awfully close to 35 million, if not over it.
Some systems sell then slowly dwindle (thing Gamecube), some disappoint then receive new life due to a feature/niche market (thing XBox 1 with Halo and Modding), while still others snowball from the start and become more mainstream. The PS2 took the last option, due mostly to it's large library, installed userbase, and mainstream perception, in spite of it's lack of hardware compared to the competition. Even with newer hardware available and a very dated ability, the PS2 is still selling. The Wii seems to be setting up for this same thing.
I'm fairly certain that every "most popular" video game system of a generation has outsold the most popular one from the previous generation, so it would only make sense for the Wii, which is quickly becoming the best selling video game console to date, to outsell the PS2. We are seeing the PS2 at it's height, but remember the NES, SNES, and PS1 were all runaway successes for their respective generations, which we didn't expect the next system to top.
The only thing that may prevent it is the snowballing success of the 360, so it's possible that this could be the first generation with two dominant systems (at least in the US). I don't see that happening. I do see the 360 being considered a success, but I see the Wii grossly outselling it due to the large mainstream market the Wii aims at. I would say that there will be more 360 owners that will buy Wii's than Wii owners that will buy 360s (if that make any sense).
You do raise a good point z6, it's possible that it could happen because our population is so large. I guess we have to see how it plays out.
It might happen... but US alone? Nintendo, don't let that ego turn you into Sony. We're still in early days.
Take the fact that it was released in mid-November. In approximately 6 months (through mid-May), they have already sold over 3 million consoles in the US. I think that it's pretty possible that the popular trend will continue to bring in a lot of sales.
add to that 3 of the 4 'killer apps' (metroid, ssbb, mario) for the system have yet to reach store shelves and IMO this is just the tip of the iceberg
Take the fact that it was released in mid-November. In approximately 6 months (through mid-May), they have already sold over 3 million consoles in the US. I think that it's pretty possible that the popular trend will continue to bring in a lot of sales.
Can all this hype really last until 2012?
It wouldn't be so much as hype by then, it would be more of a popularity. And it's possible that it can happen.
I don't mean to be negative as of late but I honestly don't see this happening. I think that in today's society that the average person's attention span is getting shorter and shorter. I know a lot of my friends who have always been avid video game fans (console only) now use most of their time for doing things on the net be it gaming, chatting, downloading, or whatever. I don't see this lasting that long. If they prove me wrong then congrats to Nintendo.
need some killer apps to sustain 6 years of sellouts, i would think
i Just think that before 2012 we will have the next gen and therefore the sales will dwindle and i dont think they will make it to that mark, but if the wii stays mainstream then yes it can get close
need some killer apps to sustain 6 years of sellouts, i would think
Some of those games could include various Mario Sports with online play, Mario Kart, F-Zero, Wii Zelda, a real DK game, Starfox, FE, Kirby, more Pokemon, Animal Crossing to name a few.