Nintendo to ship 6 million Wii by Mar. 2007

[TheChefO]

Now that I think about it it does seem in line with what Nintendo has done before.

I seem to remember them flooding the market with so many Gamecubes just after launch that they actually had to stop production completely for several months due to oversaturation of the market.

While they may oversaturate with Wii, (no pun intended) it's better to have the stock and not need it than to need it and not have it - right MS?

 

[Powderkeg]

While they may oversaturate with Wii, (no pun intended) it's better to have the stock and not need it than to need it and not have it - right MS?

That's debatable.

If retailers are sitting around on a large quantity of consoles that aren't selling fast enough they are not very likely to order more, right?

With most corporations trying their best to master JIT delivery, having a large surplus of systems is a bad thing.

 

[TheChefO]

That's debatable.

If retailers are sitting around on a large quantity of consoles that aren't selling fast enough they are not very likely to order more, right?

With most corporations trying their best to master JIT delivery, having a large surplus of systems is a bad thing.

in this instance yes it would be bad- I meant having the product availabe either via wharehouse storage or sitting on shelves rather than empty shelves, empty wharehouse, strong demand.

 

[Jimboc]

In case anyone missed the official Nintendo of America Press Release.

--------------------------------

Nintendo Announces Wii Information, Worldwide Shipments

REDMOND, Wash., May 25 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Following its overwhelming debut at E3 2006, Nintendo today announced the current fiscal year unit shipment forecast for its new home game system, Wii(TM). Nintendo also confirmed that the price of the Wii system, which incorporates unique freehand control, will not exceed $250 in America, or 25,000 yen in Japan. The company plans to ship 6 million systems to retailers around the world between its launch in the fourth quarter of 2006 and the end of its fiscal year on March 31, 2007.

The projections are part of a full-year financial forecast that sees growth of 18 percent in sales globally, based on anticipated continuing strong demand for the Nintendo DS(TM) portable game system, as well as a successful launch for Wii.

The company also said it expects to sell 17 million Wii games in the period. Exact launch dates, identification of the launch library of titles and details on the unique Virtual Console aspect of Wii will be announced soon.

 

[Bad_Boy]

Yes. That's why Nintendo plans are ambitious / optimistic.

I dunno, if sony can do it, is there something limiting nintendo from doing the same? If anything, wouldnt it be easier for nintendo to get better yeilds and cheaper hardware put together faster?

 

[Inane_Dork]

What's with the whole "will not exceed" rhetoric in the PR? Do they know its price or not?

 

[StefanS]

I dunno, if sony can do it, is there something limiting nintendo from doing the same? If anything, wouldnt it be easier for nintendo to get better yeilds and cheaper hardware put together faster?

Sure, but getting your systems shipped is only half of the equation. As Powderkeg pointed out, you don't want to oversaturate the market. Shipping 6 million is nice, but shipping 6 million and the units rotting on the shelves doesn't get you market share. Every manufacturer is going to balance his available units against the demand, particularily if your costs are going to drop the longer your system is in production. The units produced in the first 6 months are more expensive than the units produced in the next 6 months. So you don't want to overproduce it just causes more costs without return benefit.
In other words Nintendo is expecting demand for 6 million Wiis.

 

[StefanS]

What's with the whole "will not exceed" rhetoric in the PR? Do they know its price or not?

Well, it's probably based on the worst case scenario of their costs. So if the costs are lower, it going to have a smaller price tag. That's all there is to it.

 

[Bad_Boy]

I see your point hupfinsgack, but why does it make it optimistic if its actually possible to do so. I guess what your saying is that, they are ambitious in actually thinking they will sell all 6 million before march 07? Feel free to correct me if im wrong on that.

 

[pakotlar]

Well to be fair, this is a shipping target, and not nec. a sell target. Though the company wants those units sold, it seem that it will need to have them in the hands of retailers in order for that to happen. Sell through of 6mil stock will not happen instantly.

 

[StefanS]

I see your point hupfinsgack, but why does it make it optimistic if its actually possible to do so. I guess what your saying is that, they are ambitious in actually thinking they will sell all 6 million before march 07? Feel free to correct me if im wrong on that.

Yeah, IMO, the've set their goal quite high. As I've said, 6million in that time is higher than MS projections for the comparable time frame and as high as Sony projections. So yes it is pretty ambitious given how their last console faired against the same competitors at the same pricepoint in the same space of time. I am not saying they can't do it, it's just my personal opinion.

 

[Bad_Boy]

I see, makes much more sense now. What I was thinking that the making the 6 million isnt optimistic, but the 2nd part to it your saying is the selling 6 million is optimistic.

gotcha

 

[Shifty Geezer]

IMO, not just sales but also manufacturing. A lot can go wrong and they'll have no practice of producing parts prior to full production it seems. Sony have been making RSX some 10-11 months before PS3 release, and Cell for well over a year (well, Sony and partners). A million a month from a 'cold start' is an ambitious quantity for any high-tech product with no previous experience, open to unforseen problems. Unless Wii is using common as muck components and techniques with well established, stable production methods, or they're already working on assembling key components, it's not a walk in the park by any stretch.

Edit : I'll add that IMO Nintendo probably won't have too much trouble shifting those first millions. I think if they are going to have troubles it'll be further down the line where the novelty of playing things differently has worn off and we see if majority of software fits the majority of the public's taste. EyeToy sold millions off the strength of its launch, but software for it has lost momentum and it's sitting idle a lot of the time where people don't want to bounce around energetically for most of their games. If the software doesn't appeal, Wii could end up an occasional party game, a 21st Century Monopoly that's only played on Birthday's and Christmas...

 

[scooby_dooby]

Wii's price alone will make it an attractive purchase.

Not to me it doesn't, the GFX look like gamecube games, so why am I supposed to pay $199? For nothing but a controller? Couldn't I have just paid $50 and gotten the controller for a gamecube?

Wii still needs good, addictive games to sell, $199 is not a low price for what you're getting which is essentially a souped up gamecube.