Analyst – Wii U Wont Meet Wii Success

Posted by

on July 26, 2012

Another day, another negative comment from an analyst…

“Our assumptions are that Nintendo will ship 6.5 million Wii systems in the current financial year, and about 4 million Wii U systems into retail. As such I think Nintendo’s overall target of 10.5m console units is pretty neutral. In general, my outlook is that Wii U console sales will not replicate the success of the Wii. Aside from more intense competition from various other connected devices, the Wii U second-screen dynamic is a more complex consumer proposition compared to the Wii and is much harder to market.” - Piers-Harding Rolls, lead games analyst for IHS Screen Digest

[Source]

4 comments

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Menashe

I believe consoles can have very different sales abilities in the short term and long term. For example, the Wii and PS3 are extreme opposites. The Wii had the innovation and that novelty produced incredible sales initially. But, it had terrible long-term worth in sales, and it slowly but surely dropped in sales. The PS3 however, had very little novelty at all and couldn't generate strong initial sales, but it slowly built up a strong fanbase that is still buying games after all these years, as strongly or stronger than they bought games originally. So, I think the Wii U will sell well initially precisely because of the novelty. At the same time, I don't think the innovation is as great as the Wii, and it won't be as much of a craze. But, I think it will have much more longevity and it will prove itself a viable alternative to the hardcore gaming of Sony and Microsoft's systems. No, I don't expect a massive jumping-ship to happen from the other systems, but I do think it will be a strong enough system to become a strong competitor, especially with all the traditional Nintendo fans backing it in addition to any newcomers.

nfzeta007

I agree, well at least with you i can see the reasoning in what he is saying and like you said he probably isn't just jumping on the hate Wii U bandwagon but i still think the Wii U will do great, maybe not as good in terms of console unit sales but may surpass it in terms of the actual profit it pulls in

Alex B

I think this analyst is much more reasonable and measured than the usual. Whether the WiiU will be a success as big as the Wii, who knows. At least this guy isn't blatantly calling "NINTENDO ARE DOOMED" like a certain Pachter that will remain unnamed.

MisterEd

Nope. This analyst still made a dopey statement: "my outlook is that Wii U console sales will not replicate the success of the Wii" You don't say?! Now think about those pearls of wisdom this guy gave the world... according to him, the Wii U is a big fail because it will never reach the success of the Wii. And what home console will EVER be as big as the Wii was in it's prime? Most likely NONE. The Wii became a cultural phenomenon for many years. It went mainstream in a major way. It was featured in movies, it was the first game console featured at the Oscars. The President of the US of A and the Queen of England were reportedly Wii gamers. It was used by scientists to conduct some experiments. The military used it to help service men that had experienced injuries in their arms to regain mobility. It went viral with Wii Fit Girl (remember her?), Etc. etc. So because the Wii U cannot possibly be as big as the Wii was, it FAILED? LOL c'mon! Yeah, this analyst didn't use inflammatory language to say what he said. But what he said is still rather dumb.