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Nintendo Promises 4 Million Shipped Wiis By Year-End 69

Posted by Zonk
from the that's-a-thick-stream dept.
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime wants to share some good news and some bad news. The good news is that by the end of the year Nintendo expects to ship 4 million consoles. The bad news is, they still expect to sell out. From the article: "Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime hyped up the console launch, saying, 'Because of demand, we're urging shoppers not to get complacent. The level of demand we're seeing goes beyond the ordinary. Retailers are telling us a significant fraction of customers pre-ordering Wii are nontraditional gamers...' The company expects to ship 6 million Wii units globally by the end of March 2007, on par with Sony's worldwide shipment targets for PS3. Microsoft has sold 6 million Xbox 360 units to date since its launch in late November 2005, and hopes to sell 10 million by the end of the calendar year." So, fewer units than the analysts wanted. Still an impressive number.

Nintendo Promises 4 Million Shipped Wiis By Year-End

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  • A popular system at a great price point. Hell I've been unable to preorder one myself and I've been diligent in my efforts. I foresee an early lead between Nintendo and Sony. Only I'm one of the few who predicts their lead will stick.
    • And this after the news that I got that the Netherlands will probably see a shortage as well. Most retailers will recieve 3 at most. I just hope the webshop I'm getting mine from gets enough, since I'm currently #20 on the pre-order list.
    • That's a lot of Wii.
  • Amazon still doesn't have the pre-order option for the Nintendo Wii up yet. I'm not sure if I want to pre-order to do the EBay thing or wait until January to get one for myself. Decisions, decisions, decisions.
    • by ivan256 (17499)
      There is hope. No matter what EB/Gamestop has said, Wal-Mart is getting more units than any other single company, and they're not taking pre-orders.
      • by SScorpio (595836)
        Walmart took preorders on their website this morning and it sold out in 15 minutes. That's with the $600 of a console, extra remote and nunchuck, Wii points card, and four games with tax and shipping.
        • by ivan256 (17499)
          From what I heard, though, they aren't taking pre-orders in their stores. It will simply be first-come, first-served.
          • by dolson (634094)
            Most likely true, since this is what they did here with the 360, and a close friend of mine works there and she said that they won't do pre-orders for Wii or PS3 either.

            My local EB Games told me that they wouldn't do pre-orders either, but then I was in there the other day and they were doing it.. So. Whatever.
      • Does anyone know how walmart does it's console releases? will it be at midnight?
    • Wii preorders were available from Amazon for one day on 9/15. They had a huge volume so they closed them after that until they knew more about their allotment. It was available again briefly on 10/28, no one is sure why yet, Amazon hasn't given an explanation like they did in Spetember.
  • Here's excellent commentary on the differing strategies between Sony's and Nintendo's upcoming console releases:

    http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=212 [vgcats.com]

    • by Zelucifer (740431)
      The really sad part of that is, the VGcats strip doesn't take into account that Sony is losing massive amounts of money on each sale. So 1 unit for 600 dollars, with a 200 dollar loss, versus 10 units for 250 dollars with 50 dollars profit per unit. (Sorry, numeric values are just guesses)
    • by Raenex (947668)
      That comic strip is a bit shallow. I'm sure Sony would love to ship millions for Christmas, but they have production problems. Even if those problems are their fault, it's not like they intentionally want to be short on supply.
  • From Henry Ford:

    Also attributed to Ford:
    • by G-funk (22712)

      Also attributed to Ford:

      Fair enough too, back in his day. Before he invented the modern production line, people actually had to work for a living, and we weren't all morbidly obese.
  • I, for one, am definitely planning on camping out for these suckers the night of the 18th if I have to. Does anyone know whether Best Buy will allow preorders? I know that Gamespot and EB had preorders a few weeks back but they sold out incredibly quickly, and was just wondering whether anyone that's ever camped out for a console before can recommend where to do it (I was thinking Best Buy, but I've heard Walmart is good too...) Suggestions?
    • by Zinnian (958511)
      Best Buy says no preorders last I heard. http://www.kotaku.com/gaming/best-buy/best-buy-no- ps3wii-preorders-206764.php [kotaku.com] Walmart did an online preorder though I'm sure they will get a few in each store (good if you have a local one that is open 24/7 for the midnight buy). I lean more towards Target myself and will most likely be camped out there.
    • It'll be funny seeing how many of these people who campout actually never intend to play it and instead sell it on ebay for like 1000 bucks. Its truly a shameful way to make a buck. Though I guess if only an extra couple hundred bucks profit on a free ride makes you that happy, you have more problems anyway.
      • by Al Dimond (792444)
        People buy things and sell them for more money all the time. It's called a market economy. They're not doing it on a "free ride", they had to have either the foresight to pre-order or the patience to wait out in front of the store before opening time. They also had to somehow obtain the money to buy it in the first place. That's how you make investments.

        In the sense that console resellers are getting a "free ride" all investors get a "free ride". It's just how the economy goes. Some people trade stock
    • by CastrTroy (595695)
      Just for anecdotal evidence, I asked the guy at the Walmart electronics counter how many Wiis they were getting in. He said 7. Then I asked about PS3. He said they were getting 3. Either way, it's pretty low numbers to expect to get either one at launch, although it's interesting to know that they are getting more than twice as many Wiis.
      • Which walmart? I'd imagine that city walmarts will get more than rural ones.
        • by CastrTroy (595695)
          It's Ottawa (Specifically the new Walmart on terminal Ave.). Ottawa has about 1 million people, and 3 or 4 Walmarts. That's not a lot to go around. I don't know if the US is getting more or less than Canada. If you add up all the stores that are getting Wiis, and assume they are all getting the same number, then there's probably going to be less than 200 in the entire city. That's going to create some major demand.
    • In my experience the best places to camp out are Sams-Club and Costco.
      • They typically get just as many units as the Best Buys and Walmarts
      • People don't typically think to camp out there
      • While they usually only open at 7am for premium members and 10am for regular member they almost always let console campers in at 7am (which confuses a lot of would-be campers)
      • They'll probably sell you a bundle but it wont be more then $50 over the price of the console and at a savings compared to the individual components

        Have to agree, I find Costco is one of the best places to buy new game consoles. Another place is Fred Meyer.
        • by demi (17616)

          Maybe better. There's three Fred Meyers around here and one Costco.

          The thing I like about Costco is they've treated me extremely well with regard to returns. Given the potential horror stories regarding possible problems with early production models (of any console) that could be a big difference.

          Luckily, I'm really old, so I don't care about buying things right away. Now, or in a year, not much difference.

  • They don't support online play right now, so they won't get my money. Its 2006, darn near 2007 and they want to ship a console that is single player only?

    To have a fun game of Red Steel i'm going to need to invest in 160.00 worth of controllers. That just isn't right!
    • by ProppaT (557551)
      Would you rather see a lot of games with shoddy online support or would you like Nintendo to iron out their system first and then provide developers with proper kits? Unlike Sony, Nintendo isn't a clusterfuck and wants to see a standard implementation that works across the board.

      This is probably the main reason Smash Bro's is pushed to 07...they want to iron out their network issues themselves before making other developers waste their time figuring out the quirks.
    • by dlc3007 (570880)
      >> To have a fun game of Red Steel i'm going to need to invest in 160.00 worth of controllers. That just isn't right! What kind of math are you using??? You'll have to spend $50 for the game. The console comes with a controller and nun-chuk, which happens to be what you need to play Red Steel. If you want a friend to play on the same console, it is $60 for a second controller and chuk. Where the hell do you get 160??
    • by Fozzyuw (950608)

      hey don't support online play right now, so they won't get my money.

      Now or later, they're going to have it. Wi-Fi is already built into the system. So, it's $250 now or $250 later. I won't expect price drops for the console for 2 years, when it's possible they might release a more multi-media enabled device with DVD support in the States and Europe, like they're going to release in Japan from the get-go.


      • by solive1 (799249)
        Note, however, that the classic controller is an attachment for the Wiimote (just like the nunchuck). Also, the Wiimote is $40 and the nunchuck is $20.
        • by Fozzyuw (950608)


          Hmm... I got this one wrong. For some reason, I was expecting the 'classic' controller to plug into the Gamecube slots. But indeed, it's just a Wii mote attachment [wikipedia.org]. This I am a little disappointed by, but not surprised when I think about it.

    • by JimmehAH (817552)
      Nintendo's Wii games will have online connectivity, with 3rd party sometime next year. Maybe even retroactively through WiiConnect24.
  • Are the retailers going to try to stick everyone with expensive bundles, like many previous releases of new gaming systems?
    • Hopefully not. I'm not going for that bundle nonsense...usually that's just Gamestop anyway. I want 2 things: the system, and Twilight Princess. If someone tries to make me buy something else, I'll just take my business elsewhere. I think my best chance for getting one will be Target.
      • by dlc3007 (570880)
        Actually, you'll probably want a second controller and nun-chuk if you want to play the Sports game with anyone else. If you're the only one who will ever be playing the system, then you're correct.
        • by Dorceon (928997)
          Conveniently, Wii Play (includes games like Duck Hunt) comes with a Wiimote.
        • I'm not really interested in the sports game to be honest...I don't need another controller (or at least I won't for quite awhile) as I'm more into games like Metroid and Zelda and much less into games like Smash Bros. And actually, I neglected to mention one other thing I'll need with the system: either a component or DVI cable.
  • Let's say they started production in august, in order to get 4 million units by march, they are going to need to produce 500,000 units per MONTH, which would be on average of 16,000 units per DAY. That's 16,000 final, completed units. WTF? Did Nintendo manage to find Santa's elves looking for work or something?
    • by MrCopilot (871878)
      UBS analysts Alex Gauna and Steven Chin claim that Nintendo already made 2 million Wiis by the end of September.
  • by snuf23 (182335) on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @04:27PM (#16678801)
    There was this guy and he went to the store and he said Wiii!
    And the guy at the counter said pre-orders sold out Wiiii!
    Yo, and then a kid wanted one for Christmas and he told Santa Wiiii!
    And Nintendo was like OMG 4 million Wiiii!
    Mario jumped up and said "No launch title for me! Wiii!"

    When you're a kid and you wanna go "Wii".
    But you ain't got a preorder yet!
    You hold on for your life,
    Hold on to your little nunchuka... in strife...
  • Production Concerns (Score:3, Interesting)

    by MeanderingMind (884641) on Wednesday November 01, 2006 @04:45PM (#16679085) Homepage Journal
    Nintendo: 2 million at launch, 4 million by year's end, 6 million before March.
    Sony: 480k at launch, 2 million by year's end, 6 million before March.

    Looking at these production plans, I can't help but wonder what Sony is planning on doing to make up a gap of 4 million consoles in 2 months. Unless they are sitting on PS3s to create artificial scarcity (which I doubt), they'll need to go from producing 750k consoles a month [(2 million - 480k) / 2] to 2 million consoles a month [(6 million - 2 million ) / 2]. That's more than double their previous production.

    I'm not saying its impossible, but the potential problems and roadblocks for such a plan are numerous and potentially crippling.

    Nintendo seems far more organized in their rollout. I would hope they'd try and ramp up production to get more Wii consoles out there. However, I can see why they might stick to what numbers they have and possibly exceed them, rather than up forecasts and then fall short.
    • by ad0gg (594412)
      Sony is probably lieing. They won't be able to reach 6 million by march. They inflate their numbers in an attempt discourage people from buying competitors. They are betting people see the 6 million number by march and say, if i wait 4 more months i can get one, then keep stringing them along till they able to produce more ps3s then the market demand.
  • I was hoping for 6M by year end and 10M for spring. So much for that. Wiis might actually fetch a pretty good premium on e-bay. If demand is for 10M and there are only 2M, thats a pretty big price to pay. Unless N manages to pull a few million untis from nowhere.
    • The launch for the DS was supposed to be 2 Mil worldwide (Japan + NA) by the end of 2004, but Nintendo revised the totals in December (they dropped a bunch of money to get a 3rd factory online) and actually shipped 2.5-2.8 million. I'd expect that the 4 million number is again a conservative estimate. I wouldn't be surprised if 5-6 Million actually reach shelves by the end of 2006.
