Iwata says Wii U sales “are not bad”, console sells 640,000 units in Japan, challenge with two models
Posted on January 7, 2013 by Brian(@NE_Brian) in News, Podcast Stories, Wii, Wii U
Satoru Iwata gave an update about the Wii U’s sales performance while speaking with Reuters. The Nintendo president said that the console wasn’t quite as popular as Wii was initially, though “sales are not bad, and I feel it’s selling steadily.”
“At the end of the Christmas season, it wasn’t as though stores in the U.S. had no Wii U left in stock, as it was when Wii was first sold in that popular boom. But sales are not bad, and I feel it’s selling steadily.”
Wii U sold 638,339 units in Japan for the system’s December’s launch, Enterbrain data reveals. Sales were obtained between December 8 and December 30.
Iwata noted that there have been challenges in selling two different Wii U models. Nintendo doesn’t have experience in this area, as the company has never before offered two different models of a console simultaneously. Additionally, the Deluxe/Premium Set has been selling much better than the Basic model, so inventory levels were unbalanced and “many people wanted that version and couldn’t find it.”
“It was the first time Nintendo released two models of the game console at the same time … and I believe there was a challenge with balancing this. Specifically, inventory levels for the premium, deluxe package was unbalanced as many people wanted that version and couldn’t find it.”
