Stefan put together a ton of spreadsheet data and stats, about Nintendo's latest result, together to address all your statistical needs about Nintendo for at least the next few weeks (or few minutes if you are hardcore), fellow readers.
[B3D Article] "A Closer Look at Nintendo's Fiscal Year Results"
- Thread starter Farid
- Start date
Very interesting article...
Of course, it remains to be seen if any company can reach its projected sales figures ever. But I disagree with the premises of this scepticism on two counts :
1) it remains to be seen what a "significant" price drop means for the 360 and PS3. It is generally agreed that "mainstream" prices for consoles start at $300, with $200 being the very sweet spot at which sales really skyrocket. The 360 suffers from the perception that the lower-end SKUs (Core, and now Premium too) are inferior (which means people only look at the price of the most expensive SKU), and even a $200 drop for the PS3 (which would be absolutely huge) would still not price it at mainstream level. Right now, the Wii is the only profitable console HW-wise, so I'd say they are in the best position with regard to pricing (they could probably unbundle Wii Sport, selling it apart for $20, and make a $50 price drop while still being profitable).
2) The Wii and the 360/PS3 are in two very different market segments (although I can see the hardcore gamer that is the current user base of 360/PS3 get a Wii as a second console). In Japan, the PS3 is much less expensive than in EU/US, and that's the territory where the Wii outsells it by the largest factor (around 7:1 in the latest JP charts). In other terms, a price drop for the 360 and the PS3 would certainly mean those consoles would sell more, but wouldn't necessarly mean that Wii would sell less as a result.
Of course, it remains to be seen if any company can reach its projected sales figures ever. But I disagree with the premises of this scepticism on two counts :
1) it remains to be seen what a "significant" price drop means for the 360 and PS3. It is generally agreed that "mainstream" prices for consoles start at $300, with $200 being the very sweet spot at which sales really skyrocket. The 360 suffers from the perception that the lower-end SKUs (Core, and now Premium too) are inferior (which means people only look at the price of the most expensive SKU), and even a $200 drop for the PS3 (which would be absolutely huge) would still not price it at mainstream level. Right now, the Wii is the only profitable console HW-wise, so I'd say they are in the best position with regard to pricing (they could probably unbundle Wii Sport, selling it apart for $20, and make a $50 price drop while still being profitable).
2) The Wii and the 360/PS3 are in two very different market segments (although I can see the hardcore gamer that is the current user base of 360/PS3 get a Wii as a second console). In Japan, the PS3 is much less expensive than in EU/US, and that's the territory where the Wii outsells it by the largest factor (around 7:1 in the latest JP charts). In other terms, a price drop for the 360 and the PS3 would certainly mean those consoles would sell more, but wouldn't necessarly mean that Wii would sell less as a result.
The 360 also suffers from the perception on the part of powers-that-be at MS that it's still losing the company hundreds of millions of dollars every quarter.
Corwin_B,
Nintendo also has a very long history significantly understating its sales and fiscal performance on purpose. 14 Million Wii in fiscal year 2008 turns out to be 1.17m sold per month. I dunno, that sounds to me to be quite conservative, particularly since they've ramped up to 1.5m Wii manufactured in March, and will probably go higher over the next 6 months to prepare for Christmas.
Nintendo also has a very long history significantly understating its sales and fiscal performance on purpose. 14 Million Wii in fiscal year 2008 turns out to be 1.17m sold per month. I dunno, that sounds to me to be quite conservative, particularly since they've ramped up to 1.5m Wii manufactured in March, and will probably go higher over the next 6 months to prepare for Christmas.
Natoma - Defender of the Nintendoverse,
I've read (B3d article & elsewher) that Nin as currently at max capacity. What are they doing to increase capacity
It helps when you have a financial stake in a company to learn everything you can about it. They're contracting with new manufacturers to increase supply. Also, the max capacity of the GBA in any given month was 2.3 million units. DS is at 2.5 million and Nintendo is working to increase that to 3 million. So whatever they're doing, it's working out.
They're contracting with new manufacturers to increase supply. Also, the max capacity of the GBA in any given month was 2.3 million units. DS is at 2.5 million and Nintendo is working to increase that to 3 million. So whatever they're doing, it's working out.
Thanks for the tid bit. I am aware of you being a holder. Congrats on good decision making and beware of splits in your future.
The target price of the wii was 200$ for retail on the start of the production.
Due the decreased memory/flash memory prices they could sell the wii for 150$,with 0 or minimal losses.(and right now they can see that the full ifetime sales will be bigger than the planned numbers,and they can modify te equipment amortisation numbers,and usualy that is the biggest part of the price)
Sadly for the m$ and for the sony, they have a big inventory (not only in finished consoles,but in parts),and due this they can not get the same price decrease as the wii.
For the same results,they have to produce with max capacity,and after it stop the production to retool the production lines and refil the supplier pipelines.
Oh,they are sooo screwed up.
Everything that is absolutly good for the N is absolutly bad for the M$ and for the Sony.I don't think so. We will have to wait this fall and have a look to the consoles wars to have a better idea.
A lot of people are expecting that sony will lower the price, but when and how much? Same for MS will be 2 years for the 360 this fall and I don't think any console kept the same launch price for that long.
How much an impact games will have on the HW sales ? Both have a pretty nice line up for that fall.
Nintendo seems to be able to have a wait and see position and it is very nice position.
A lot of people are expecting that sony will lower the price, but when and how much? Same for MS will be 2 years for the 360 this fall and I don't think any console kept the same launch price for that long.
How much an impact games will have on the HW sales ? Both have a pretty nice line up for that fall.
Nintendo seems to be able to have a wait and see position and it is very nice position.
I don't think that the xb2/ps3 have too mush time to show a big gain on the sales.
The development for the fall releases will be finished at ctober, and the managmnet will have to make a decision for the next development.
And if the wii sales will be stron at that time, the major part of the groups will work on wii releases.And these groups are not the class 3 teams.
This year can be the start of the funeral of the ps3 & xb2.
The development for the fall releases will be finished at ctober, and the managmnet will have to make a decision for the next development.
And if the wii sales will be stron at that time, the major part of the groups will work on wii releases.And these groups are not the class 3 teams.
This year can be the start of the funeral of the ps3 & xb2.
Um, no. 360 is selling fine, and Wii still isn't offering the kind of line-up that 360 is. Look at the top 10 every month in the USA: lots of 360, almost no Wii. It remains to see if serious action titles will become more than a rarity on Wii, or if the line-up will consist almost entirely of kid games, novelty titles, Mario Sports, and PSP ports. If Wii doesn't manage to appeal to the very large market that was buying games like Metal Gera Solid and Halo last gen, that market will continue to go for the 360.
The only thing hurting 360 right now is the fact that it's losing big money. That may change when it moves to the 65 nm process.
The only thing hurting 360 right now is the fact that it's losing big money. That may change when it moves to the 65 nm process.
You know, everyone has their right to an opinion, but people really need to stop harping on this canard as if it's a fair assessment. Of course the Wii doesn't have a lineup as good as the 360; it's only been out for 5.5 months vs 360 at 17.5 months. The same sentiment goes for people bemoaning the PS3 library. Good lord, both consoles just launched.
What was the 360's library until late last year, slightly before the Wii and PS3 launched, you ask? Utter and total garbage. Shock and surprise, it had launched and had droughts of good games for many moons.
Oh noes! Unprecedented that is! A launch console lacks a fully fleshed out lineup!
As I said in the other thread that you created on this topic, give it time. If we're at this same point a year from now, you've got something. Otherwise, it's premature chicken little. No console in the history of gaming has launched with a fully fleshed out library, not even the vaunted PS2. In fact, what sustained the PS2 for probably its first year was its backward compatibility with PS1.
What does the Wii have today? 100% compatibility with the GC library, Wii games, and VC games. That's a lot of titles to play and will help bridge the gap while the Wii library takes time to flesh out.
What was the 360's library until late last year, slightly before the Wii and PS3 launched, you ask? Utter and total garbage. Shock and surprise, it had launched and had droughts of good games for many moons.
Oh noes! Unprecedented that is! A launch console lacks a fully fleshed out lineup!As I said in the other thread that you created on this topic, give it time. If we're at this same point a year from now, you've got something. Otherwise, it's premature chicken little. No console in the history of gaming has launched with a fully fleshed out library, not even the vaunted PS2. In fact, what sustained the PS2 for probably its first year was its backward compatibility with PS1.
What does the Wii have today? 100% compatibility with the GC library, Wii games, and VC games. That's a lot of titles to play and will help bridge the gap while the Wii library takes time to flesh out.
But look what was known around this time. For the 360, we already knew about or had seen Gears of War, Oblivion, Ghost Recon, Splinter Cell, Resident Evil 5, Lost Planet, Halo 3, COD2, COD3, and I think Crackdown by this time. Everyone knew Forza 2 was going to come sooner or later, regardless of if it was announced.
Wii's got very little in the way of even announced action/adventure titles. That may change in the coming weeks, which is why I said "It remains to see."
Wii's got very little in the way of even announced action/adventure titles. That may change in the coming weeks, which is why I said "It remains to see."
So basically if you were a FPS/3rd person fan, the 360 was worth waiting for. If otherwise, you were up a creek without a paddle? What did that say about the depth of the game library? See why going by announced games 5 months into a system's life is a worthless endeavor?
All of the titles you named were either PC games or were sequels to last-gen games, save for Gears of War. If we go that route, I can name several games for the Wii that will launch this year, starting with Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, RE Umbrella Chronicles + the RE4 remake, and Nights 2. That doesn't exactly count imo.
E3 is where unannounced titles are brought up. And even then, I think it's silly to compare libraries when one console has a full year advantage over the other two.
All of the titles you named were either PC games or were sequels to last-gen games, save for Gears of War. If we go that route, I can name several games for the Wii that will launch this year, starting with Super Mario Galaxy, Metroid Prime 3, RE Umbrella Chronicles + the RE4 remake, and Nights 2. That doesn't exactly count imo.
E3 is where unannounced titles are brought up. And even then, I think it's silly to compare libraries when one console has a full year advantage over the other two.
I don't think Wii owners are even interested in those, FWIW. I for one am not, I'd like more whacky comic-cartoon style games.
well if we start discounting good games on a system just because they are available for another system (that is not directly competing against) then somebody can go to another route and say most big profile "wii" titles are "just" gc games with wii controls tacked on (zelda tw, metroid prime, super paper mario,upcoming re4 remake) and unoriginal mini-games collections.
I agree that we should give wii sometime (maybe even longer than accepted norm since it brought a paradigm shift to gaming industry) before we make a judgement on its portfolio and 3rd party support, but at the same time i believe that 1st year of 360 portfolio was sufficient enough to keep its target audience entertained until real AAA/must own games started to show up later and most games were not certainly "garbage" by any means. Yes games like pgr3, kameo, dead or alive 4 or ridge racer 6 were not must-have AAA titles that warranted a purchase of a $400 machine but they are far from garbage.