Wii U sales estimated at 4.3 million units, Nintendo would need to sell over a million consoles each month to reach goal
Several months ago, Nintendo announced its goal to sell 9 million Wii U units by the end of the 2014 fiscal year ending March 31. That’s always seemed like a lofty target given the system’s poor sales since launch, but it would now seem more difficult than ever to achieve.
IGN estimates that Wii U sales stand at about 4.3 million units worldwide to date. In order to hit 9 million, Nintendo would need to sell between 1.1 and 1.2 million consoles starting this month up through March.
EEDAR VP of Insights Jesse Divnich spoke with IGN about the Wii U sales – specifically competition from other new consoles, and how Nintendo’s own games may improve the system’s fortunes slightly. Divnich also said another price drop will likely take place again “once conditions are right”.
“Even with the hardware constraints of the new hardware, Nintendo has their own battles to contend with but certainly they are not operating under favorable conditions with all the visibility and marketing the new platforms are getting.”
“Hardware price drops should always be a last resort. They are permanent and have considerable impacts on the bottom line. That being said, price drops do increase hardware sales and both retailers and consumers will always pressure for lower price points, but it may not always be conducive to a healthy bottom line. I believe if Nintendo could drop the price without negatively impacting their bottom-line they would have. Once conditions are right, they are likely to drop the price again.”
“We should anticipate a small uptick in hardware sales as Nintendo’s first party software has shown the ability to increase hardware sales.”
