Nintendo Reduces Production of Wii

[Greg Tito]

Nintendo Reduces Production of Wii

In yet another sign of the Wii apocalypse, reports have surfaced from component manufacturers pointing to Nintendo ordering fewer Wii consoles.

The fiscal reports of two Japanese electronic component manfacturers, Mitsumi and Hosiden, have claimed that their profits have dropped by more than 50% from 2008. Both companies blame the decline of the Wii's popularity and Nintendo placing less orders for the components needed to produce the console.

This is a big change from 2008, when the Wii was selling like hotcakes and it seemed Nintendo couldn't make them fast enough. It will be interesting to see how Nintendo leverages the once popular control scheme into more sales. If not, it's possible that the Wii will continue to decline and fade away.

With Microsoft's Natal technology and Sony's PlayStation Motion Controller arguably being pushed into production by the success of the Wii, will Nintendo's innovative console be remembered as a short-lived trend setter or can Nintendo reverse its fortunes with a blockbuster new product?

Somehow, I don't think the Wii Vitality Sensor [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/93093-Nintendo-President-Defends-Wii-Vitality-Sensor] is it.

Source: Spong [http://news.spong.com/article/19900/Nintendo-Slows-Wii-Production]

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[Pendragon9]

I hope Nintendo doesn't have anything new up their sleeve for a while. 1 in every 100 people on Earth own a Wii, they don't exactly need to keep selling right this moment.

(50 mil Wiis, about 6 billion people. That sounds about right.)

 

[Cilliandrew]

Eh, it falls victim to what has happened to the last couple Nintendo consoles: Not enough quality 3rd party support.

Also, i think power of the system is STILL a factor. Why they intentionally bit the bullet on the power issue will forever be a blunder.

 

[Jared]

Somehow im not surprised. They started by cutting price and it was known they had problems shifting units...

I dont think its the end of the Wii, but, I do think its a sign the great wall of Nintendo may be showing cracks...

 

[Producer]

Wow, what a great article based on one spurious fact and 99% conjecture. Looks like someone needs a new job.

 

[jackanderson]

"1, 2, 3, 4, I Predict A Fanboy War! Yeah!"

But on topic, at least this explains why Ant & Dec are popping up every other ad break to sell the Wii to me. But now that No More Heroes has jumped ship, there's no reason for me to get the console.

Bye Nintendo!

 

[Low Key]

I'm not too concerned about the future of Nintendo. Even with the Gamecube, they found a way to turn a profit. Maybe with the decline of Wii sales, they can finally worry about releasing games that aren't run of the mill or adding more classics to the virtual console.

 

[Yukinari]

The wii is currently fun but has a huge third party problem is all.
I enjoyed playing NSMB Wii, which is the only wii game along with 2-3 others i play on the wii anyway.
I dont know, maybe its about time nintendo finally loses?

 

[DrDeath3191]

Production has slowed because so many people already own the console that it's nearing the saturation point. This is hardly the sign of a 'Nintendo apocalypse'. Profits may be down, but that doesn't mean they still aren't making money: just a bit less.

 

[Sixties Spidey]

I just started to use my Wii for something other than Smash Bros. (New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and Muramasa), so yeah. This piece of news really does blow, and seeing No More Heroes jump ship is kind of heartbreaking (the port for the ps3/360 look like shit anyway. I mean, attacking with the analog sticks? Have we learned fuck all from Too Human?).

 

[mikecoulter]

I think that they can hold out on a temporary slow of sales. I don't want Nintendo to die, I still like some of their stuff, and need spare parts for my DS Lite! I do like how the Wii control mimics the layout of the NES controller too, perfect for the Virtual Console. I've almost bought a Wii many a time just for Virtual Console.

 

[Heart of Darkness]

It's great to see an objective, unbiased news article published on this site.

I mean, it's not like the Wii has already reached a high degree of saturation in the market, and that making less consoles is a sign of not risking money on a widely popular item who's sales are declining. This must be a sign of the loss of cultural relevance for the gimmick box.

And really, the Motion Sensor is just another gimmick. It has no games for it and has practically no penetration on the market due to the lack of games, therefore, it must suck and is helping further the Wii's fade into obscurity.

 

[robrob]

The Wii had a production level of 2.4 million units per month (source: http://www.vooks.net/story-18673-Nintendo-scaling-back-production-of-Wii-consoles.html ). If they kept that rate up, they would beat the PS2 to 100m sales pretty easily. Even for the 3 months ending Sept 30 they were selling over a million a month. If they keep up that rate (3.52 million per 3 months), they'll have almost 95 million Wii's sold by 5 years and 9 months, the point at which the PS2 became the fastest console in history to have 100 million sales. That's an underestimate too, the Wii sold 10.41 million Wii's in the 3 months ending December 31, 2008 compared to 4.93 the quarter before that. Nintendo could easily sell 6-7 million Wii's this quarter. Nintendo still have room for price drops too.

This article reads like trolling rubbish aimed at Nintendo fanboys. Yes, sales are dropping. But a "Wii apocalypse" seems unlikely when it still outsells every other console on the market. The writer also doesn't even attempt to look at alternatives, like Nintendo moving to other suppliers or trying to eat away existing stock to prepare for an updated version. Sony has bought out the slim, the Xbox has a zillion different chipsets roaming around, but the Wii hasn't changed. Maybe nintendo are looking to re-release (there's been talk of a Wii HD for ages) or have simply found cheaper suppliers.

At what point does the Wii not become a gimmick though? It can't be sales based, otherwise the xbox is a gimmick, the Wii has outsold the original and the 360 combined.

 

[JWAN]

yea, its because of how many people own them more than anything. It was bound to happen (Am not knocking the council)

It happens.

But after they cut production they will try to make a false shortage and that will increase demand a little bit again.

 

[JWAN]

I think that they can hold out on a temporary slow of sales. I don't want Nintendo to die, I still like some of their stuff, and need spare parts for my DS Lite! I do like how the Wii control mimics the layout of the NES controller too, perfect for the Virtual Console. I've almost bought a Wii many a time just for Virtual Console.

Of course they can, they made a profit right off the bat and have been making a profit ever sense

 

[Lt. Vinciti]

1.The Wii owners own a Wii by now
2.Where is the Black one?

 

[Sylocat]

*coughmarketsaturationcough*

 

[AceDiamond]

In this article: a distinct lack of understanding about economics. Oh and a vitality sensor joke, how cutting-edge and hilarious. Because that's clearly what Nintendo has staked things on, not things like, oh say, actual games like NSMB Wii or anything like that.