Don't be mean bro.

You're really mixing tracks here.  You're talking about a plan Nintendo had to sell less until prices came down, and more from this year.  Do you think "could sell double for what we know" is part of the grand master plan?

I think you're missing over the big picture of saying that 3.6 mil is some sort of hardware manufacturing limit rather than a prediction.

Most predictions are NOT accurate.  I don't mean this for Nintendo, I mean this in the general world of business.  Many companies only use predictions as a "stance".  If a company has liberal predictions, it usually means they expect something they've been planning/strategizing to pay off big time.  If a company has conservative predictions, it usually means they expect it as a worst-case scenario.  The fact that Nintendo actually sold just under their last dramatic reduction in predictions means that their plan with SM3DW didn't pay off like they wanted to, and that DKC:TF sold at worst-case scenario numbers.  It does NOT mean the plan I outlined in the beginning is completely debunked!

In fact, what's funny is that even that Pachter guy *GASP* expects Nintendo to exceed their latest sales predictions.

Anyway, the overall point of the post was indirectly that we all have no idea what the hell is going on behind closed doors, and Nintendo has been a business for SO long, and sits on MOUNTAINS of money that there was definitely a plan, and there always has been one.  It's not just some "Nintendo is stupid, and has no idea what they're doing, I could run the company better!" situation that the internet keeps making it out to be.  I'm being positive because the fact is that they have plans, and always have.  I think positively about what they plan, because even if your plans don't turn out the way you want them to in the end, you'll never get anywhere in life sitting around with your 20/20 hindsight talking about how they could have done it.

They had plans, and sure they didn't turn out exactly the way they wanted it to, but does it mean they're stupid?  Hell no, but everyone seems to think so from the comfort of their PCs and mobile phones.

And to the person saying they should have waited to release the console when manufacturing it was profitable... You must REALLY not know how this stuff works... In order for manufacturing processes to come down in cost, the process must be improved, refined, and most notably, done in large quantities.

Did anyone else notice the absolutely crazy ramp-up in marketing and advertising for Mario Kart 8?  Is it coincidence that the system is no longer being sold at a loss, either?

I think you're missing over the big picture of saying that 3.6 mil is some sort of hardware manufacturing limit rather than a prediction.

Most predictions are NOT accurate.  I don't mean this for Nintendo, I mean this in the general world of business.  Many companies only use predictions as a "stance".  If a company has liberal predictions, it usually means they expect something they've been planning/strategizing to pay off big time.  If a company has conservative predictions, it usually means they expect it as a worst-case scenario.  The fact that Nintendo actually sold just under their last dramatic reduction in predictions means that their plan with SM3DW didn't pay off like they wanted to, and that DKC:TF sold at worst-case scenario numbers.  It does NOT mean the plan I outlined in the beginning is completely debunked!

In fact, what's funny is that even that Pachter guy *GASP* expects Nintendo to exceed their latest sales predictions.

Anyway, the overall point of the post was indirectly that we all have no idea what the hell is going on behind closed doors, and Nintendo has been a business for SO long, and sits on MOUNTAINS of money that there was definitely a plan, and there always has been one.  It's not just some "Nintendo is stupid, and has no idea what they're doing, I could run the company better!" situation that the internet keeps making it out to be.  I'm being positive because the fact is that they have plans, and always have.  I think positively about what they plan, because even if your plans don't turn out the way you want them to in the end, you'll never get anywhere in life sitting around with your 20/20 hindsight talking about how they could have done it.

They had plans, and sure they didn't turn out exactly the way they wanted it to, but does it mean they're stupid?  Hell no, but everyone seems to think so from the comfort of their PCs and mobile phones.

And to the person saying they should have waited to release the console when manufacturing it was profitable... You must REALLY not know how this stuff works... In order for manufacturing processes to come down in cost, the process must be improved, refined, and most notably, done in large quantities.  If you don't release the Wii U, it doesn't get cheaper to make at the same rate as it does having sold 6.17 million of them already.  This is basic mass production principles...  If the Wii U's current hardware remained unchanged, but was never mass produced, it could take 3-4 years to become profitable rather than the 1.5 years it took.  That means it's either "release it now and drive down the manufacturing costs through production", or "wait 3-4 years until the Wii U can sell at a profit in its current configuration and just keep the Wii going with no games planned for it".  So yea, of course they released the Wii U when they did...

Who said 3.6 mil is some manufacturing limit?  Never said that, and I don't think anybody else said it before you did.

Look, I think you're mixing too much "he said she said" in and getting off topic.  I never said Nintendo is stupid.  I never said they don't have a plan.  Business decisions are made with a plan, hopefully with a long term plan.

You made a claim, that Nintendo was taking it slow and laid back as part of a bigger plan.  You wrote "Nintendo has willingly kept the sales of the Wii U low in an attempt to minimize their losses UNTIL the Wii U itself could become profitable sold as hardware."

Your claim is under debate.  Stick to the topic.

First, read your comment below....

I agree with you, and more so it's why I think they did not purposefully minimize their sales.  I don't think 2.8 million sales a year is good for manufacturing and sourcing efficiency, so no I don't think they waited for the cost to come down.

Second...

Right.  And now, Nintendo projected 3.6 million expectation.  It's just a prediction, but it's useful to weigh the situation.

Willingly kept back sales = 2.8 million sold
Crazy marketing + MK8 + Smash = 3.6 million expectation

Something doesn't measure up.  The underlined parts are facts & official Nintendo statements, the "willingly kept back sales" is your conjecture which doesn't seem to belong.

My opinion, last year Nintendo overestimated demand and were caught off guard.  This year Nintendo has simply saved it's marketing dollars for it's biggest game.

I clearly said Nintendo missed their targets, and have probably decided to be much more conservative this time around.  That isn't proof that they didn't hold back on marketing/advertising costs in an attempt to strike a balance between the hardware losses from sales and the lowering of manufacturing costs.

What measures up is that they willingly kept back sales, but it ended up being even lower than expected, and instead of creating some crazy projection that could make them look like absolute buffoons, they decided it better to keep the expectation low while going all out.

This IS Nintendo we're talking about, they do crazy things, and it's horrible that people always equate "crazy" with "stupid" or "bad" just because it doesn't always pay off.  The Wii was "crazy" when you look at it when it was first announced, and yet it became one of the hottest selling consoles of all time...  Nintendo banks on crazy, and the idea that they're trying to manage the Wii U around the hardware costs that they talked SO much about (remember, they emphasized it was sold at a loss, and also emphasized there would be no price drop because of it, yet dropped it anyway probably in the hopes it would boost them closer to their expected sales while they held off on aggressive marketing/advertising) really isn't that far-fetched.

In fact, the crazy ramp up in budget towards marketing in Q4 of the last fiscal year is almost proof on its own that they were waiting until the time was right to come out swinging, because we're seeing the result of that money, and it's quite glorious with how Mario Kart 8 is starting to top pre-order charts.  My whole point, even now, is that Nintendo is probably a hell of a lot smarter than they're given credit for.

Letting their competition take the lead and have the spotlight isn't a bad idea, either.  They could have been just waiting until all the hype dies down on the competition, knowing it would have been foolish to go up against marketing giants at the peak of their new hardware hype sales and marketing freight trains.  Microsoft could very well have been correct that this generation really is a marathon rather than a sprint.  It doesn't mean the Wii U will win, but it may perform dramatically better in its later life than anticipated simply because that was the plan to begin with!

Are you trying to win 1st prize in a koolaid drinking contest?  Come on, it seemed you were making better arguments before.

I think "they do crazy things" has to be one of the worst arguments possible.

Let's wait and see if your theory turns out right before talking about it like it was a fact.