Fils-Aime: Wii up to 40 million units in US, Nintendo won't abandon it
The Wii has sold 40 million units in the US, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told investors after the Nintendo Direct Wii U conference today.
Even though the Wii U is set in holiday stone with a launch on November 18, Nintendo isn't losing sight of the Wii.
"We will continue to sell the Wii," Fils-Aime said. "As we sit here today, in the US the Wii has sold about 40 million units. We believe that there continues to be an opportunity with Wii. Yes, these are late, late adopters. And yes, price points are important. But we do believe there's still opportunity for the Wii, and we will continue to sell Wii side-by-side for some period of time."
Many Wii games and all Wii accessories are backward-compatible with the Wii U, which Fils-Aime called a "one-two punch in our home console business between Wii U and Wii."
Besides, the US isn't the only market for the Wii. "I'm responsible for Canada and Latin America as well," Fils-Aime said. "We think there's opportunity in both of those markets, especially Latin America. You can reach price points, you can reach consumers that candidly we won't be able to reach with the Wii U. That's gonna continue to be an opportunity.
"Lastly, on the global base, certainly there are markets in Eastern Europe. There are a number of other markets where if Wii has an attractive price point, it'll do well. So, we will continue to be in the Wii business for quite some time."
