Engadget

Nintendo finally sees Wii demand slowing, calls iPhone a DS / DSi competitor

Darren Murph — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:39:00 EST

While it seemed that all was going well for the Big N, it looks like those jovial times are finally coming to a (temporary) end. In an earnings report filed today, the company posted a 66 percent fall in quarterly operating profit on "slowing demand for its Wii console and a stronger yen." It's not so much the profit slide that's surprising, but the sudden admission that Wii demand has finally (finally!) slowed from a raging boil to simply piping hot definitely caught us off guard. Still, Nintendo maintained that it would sell 26 million Wii consoles before the year was out alongside 30 million DS handhelds, the latter of which has seen momentum slow due to "increased competition in the handheld business from Apple's iPhone." Now, we've known for some time that the suits in Cupertino have always viewed the iPhone as a game console, but to hear it called out as such from an entity not named Apple is another matter entirely. Maybe it should reconsider that whole "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" thing? Nah.

[Image courtesy of QuiteCurious]

Filed under: Gaming, Handhelds

Nintendo finally sees Wii demand slowing, calls iPhone a DS / DSi competitor originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo ships 50 million Wii consoles, which still isn't enough

Darren Murph — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:24:00 EST

Earlier this month, both AMD and IBM announced that they had shipped the 50 millionth Wii GPU and CPU, respectively, so it was only a matter of time before Nintendo came forward to say what everyone was already thinking: the Big N has shipped 50 million Wii consoles worldwide. Today at the outfit's Game Developers Conference keynote, Satoru Iwata confirmed that it had moved "more than 50 million" units, making it "the fastest selling video game hardware in history." Interestingly enough, the company also announced its 100 millionth DS shipment just under a fortnight ago, so it's pretty safe to say things are going well in the Mushroom Kingdom. Now, if only it could get through a Christmas without ruining the lives of hundreds of thousands of kids with procrastinating parents, we'd be able to hand over a "kudos" with a straight face.

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Nintendo ships 50 million Wii consoles, which still isn't enough originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:24:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii shortage finally nearing its end, says GameStop exec

Ross Miller — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:26:00 EST

We never, ever thought it'd take this long, but we've finally received a sign that the Wii supply and demand might be nearing some equilibrium, almost two and a half years later. According to GameStop SVP Bob McKenzie, the retailer now has a couple weeks' worth of supply, which seems to be fairly unprecedented given the numerous shortage stories we've heard over the console's 852-day lifespan. That's not to say the console's popularity is waning -- it's still topping US sales charts, and according to NPD, pushed over 750,000 units last month. So now that one shortage might be nearing its end, how about Nintendo find a way to keep Wii Fit in stock?

[Via Joystiq]

Read - McKenzie on Wii supply
Read - February NPD figures

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Wii shortage finally nearing its end, says GameStop exec originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Best Buy rumored to be hoarding Wiis for holiday push

Darren Murph — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:16:00 EST

It's hard to say if this rumor is true, but it's not behavior that Best Buy has avoided in the past. In fact, we vividly remember this exact same scenario happening in late 2006 -- the difference? That was the Wii's launch year. This is two years later. Two. Years. Later. Oh, and it's totally a futile effort, considering that Wally World sold through "tens of thousands" in about four milliseconds. Seriously people, there's a new Elmo to wage holiday war on, you have no business scrapping for a Wii 25 months after it hit US shores.*

[Via NintendoWiiFanboy]

*Image above is assumed to be Photoshopped, as we cannot find a single human to confirm ever seeing that many Wii consoles for sale in one location.

Filed under: Gaming

Best Buy rumored to be hoarding Wiis for holiday push originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 10 Dec 2008 17:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo cranking on Wii production for the holidays, still making no promises

Darren Murph — Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:31:00 EST

Hard to believe, nay, mind-boggling, that two full years after Nintendo launched the Wii in America we're still looking at shortages. In the midst of "economic turmoil," no less. Back in April, Reggie Fils-Aime proclaimed that he was "passionately upset" about the difficulty consumers were having in finding Wii consoles, and now that yet another holiday season is upon us, it's clear that he's made some changes. In a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times, he admitted that Wii production was up from 1.6 million units per month (during this time last year) to 2.4 million units per month (now), though he wouldn't go so far as to say you'd have an easy time finding one. In fact, he stated that "once you see [a Wii console] on the shelf, you ought to buy it." Also of note, those still scouting a Wii Fit may be in luck, as the Big N could decide to ship more units to America rather than Europe now that the greenback is gaining strength versus the euro. Good luck hunting -- we'd recommend you start looking, um, yesterday.

Update: Looks like Ninty's already turning up the burners -- that's a heretofore-unbelievable shot of Wii stock at reader Roberto's local Best Buy in West Paterson, New Jersey.

[Via GameDaily]

Read - Reggie Fils-Aime interview
Read - Analyst's take Wii Fit shipments

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Nintendo cranking on Wii production for the holidays, still making no promises originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 27 Oct 2008 15:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Analyst says Nintendo deliberately redirecting Wii Fit to Europe

Donald Melanson — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:14:00 EST

While the supposed Wii Fit shortages are nothing compared to the now infamous Wii shortages we've seen, at least one of those ever-insightful analysts now claims to deduced the cause of them, and he's laying the blame squarely on the big N. According to Wedbush Morgan Securities' Michael Pachter, Nintendo has shipped some 2 million Wii Fit units to Europe, while reserving a mere 500,000 for North America, which he surmises can only mean that Nintendo is deliberately redirecting 'em in order to take advantage of the strong Euro. Pachter seems to think that Nintendo will still make out alright in the end, however, saying that, "they know that Americans will be just as fat a few months from now," when it'll have more units available.

[Via GameSpot]

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Analyst says Nintendo deliberately redirecting Wii Fit to Europe originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo "passionately upset" about Wii shortages, won't give out free Mario cakes

Darren Murph — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:05:00 EST

Besides being infuriated with leaving over a billion dollars on the table this past holiday season, Nintendo of America is also "passionately upset about the lack of product relative to demand." Those words came straight from Mr. Reggie Fils-Aime himself, who noted that North America was the only Wii-serviced territory where supply and demand were still out of sync. Reportedly, some 40-percent of the 1.8 million Wii consoles manufactured each month are making their way over, but even after 17 months on the market, the average Wii sits around on retail shelves for "just an hour before [it is] purchased." Unfortunately, we're no closer to being able to clone the consoles in order to meet the insatiable appetite.

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo "passionately upset" about Wii shortages, won't give out free Mario cakes originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 24 Apr 2008 22:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo cranking out 1.8 million Wiis per month

Darren Murph — Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:44:00 EST

It's not like you really needed another PSA to reinforce just how difficult getting your hands around a Wii this holiday season will be, but a recent interview with Nintendo of America's marketing chief George Harrison did make mention of that fact. More specifically, he stated that it was "still expecting some shortages in December," but noted that the Big N wouldn't be "pulling back on its marketing." Potentially more interesting is Mr. Harrison's assertion that the firm is currently producing some 1.8 million Wiis per month, and it's having to make decisions of where to send shipments to "nearly every week." 'Course, the chat couldn't end without some reference to the rivals, and the exec concluded by proclaiming that Nintendo "doesn't focus a lot on the competition," as "its performance seems to be independent of those two."

[Via 1UP]

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo cranking out 1.8 million Wiis per month originally appeared on Engadget on Mon, 19 Nov 2007 07:44:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo planning to milk its Wii shortage through the holidays

Paul Miller — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:39:00 EST

You know, we could understand a few months of Wii shortages, and perhaps we'd let Nintendo slip by the seven month mark with a mild slap on the wrist, but this recent announcement of shortages through the 2007 holidays is just plain annoying. "There is no guarantee that we are not going to have 'out-of-stocks' this holiday season," says George Harrison, senior V.P of marketing for Nintendo of America. "If you see one, buy it. Don't assume that you can come back later and find one." It's not like Nintendo doesn't have the time, cash or know-how to ramp up production. Sure, we don't know all the ins and outs of supply chain management, but it sounds more like Nintendo is enjoying its "can't keep 'em on the shelves" status a bit too much to seriously make an attempt at meeting demand.

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Nintendo planning to milk its Wii shortage through the holidays originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 19:39:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo shorting UK pre-orders with supply problems

Paul Miller — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:54:00 EST

While Nintendo's Wii has been the undisputed champ of at-launch availability so far, and looks to be well on the way to its projected 4 million sales by the end of the year, supply problems are starting to crop up in Europe. Apparently Nintendo hasn't yet shipped the full quantities it has promised to some retailers, which naturally doesn't sit too well with pre-order customers. Hopes are high for getting the rest of those pre-ordered Wiis by Christmas, but that's little consolation to the fanboys hoping to get their European Wii on by December 8th. Non pre-order customers pretty much don't stand a chance, and we're just hoping this doesn't all end in tears, PS3 style.

Filed under: Gaming

Nintendo shorting UK pre-orders with supply problems originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 07 Dec 2006 16:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GameStop/EB accepting Nintendo Wii pre-orders tomorrow

Darren Murph — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:05:00 EST

Okay, considering there's already some crazy things happening on eBay, and knowing full well that PlayStation 3 consoles will undoubtedly be a hot commodity in a few ~~short~~ long weeks, you might just need to reevaluate those plans of waltzing into your favorite game shop on November 19th and leaving happy. Nintendo's Wii isn't that likely (right?) to be sold out everywhere come launch week, but for those who don't enjoy pressing their luck (or camping out in the cold), American GameStop's are indeed accepting pre-orders starting tomorrow, while Canadian venues start October 16th. We had good suspicion that things would pan out this way, and our pals at Joystiq are now reporting that GameStop newsletter subscribers have just received official word that $50 will quasi-guarantee you a shiny white box come launch day -- but only one unit per "household" can supposedly be claimed, and the company even warns that allocations are likely to vanish "within minutes." We weren't counting on this year's "budget console" playing hard to get, but if all these sudden reports of imminent scarcity are eventually proven accurate, maybe getting your name on that list wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

[Via Joystiq, thanks to everyone who sent this in]

Filed under: Gaming

GameStop/EB accepting Nintendo Wii pre-orders tomorrow originally appeared on Engadget on Thu, 12 Oct 2006 15:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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