| Lingyis said: i showed my Wii to my dad, and after he got back, he advertised the Wii to everybody. he alone has made ~30 people buy Wiis. Now, i'm gonna tell you, it's actually not a good deal for Nintendo. ALL their softwares are pirated. let me tell you how a Wii is purchased in china. you put in an order at a store. you go pick it up the next day. for 300 RNB (~$40) extra, you can install a modchip that plays ALL the pirated games on the market. which, of course, is an ESSENTIAL option. all in all, you can buy a modded Wii for about $2200 RNB (~$290). the pirated games sell for 5-10RNB (about $1US). EACH and EVERY game is pirated, from the Japanese games to US games. it takes less than a week for a game showing up on the mass market before it gets pirated, and that's if you're lucky--often times you see pirated copies BEFORE the game is officially released. my relatives typically buy 20-50 games. that's... 500RNB (~$60) max? Nintendo getting big profits in China? that's a dream. a dream that won't be fulfilled for at least another 10 years. let me give you a comparison. I spent the first 13 years of my life in Macau (now the world's largest gambling center). i grew up playing pirated games. Macau now has a GDP per capita comparable to those of Western European nations (though to be fair, per capita income is nowhere close). and guess what, last time i went back, you can STILL buy pirated games. Nintendo is fortunate that they actually make a profit on Wii hardware. 1 mln units in china is ~$50mln in profits for nintendo, but they'd much rather shift that mln units to Japan or USA or Europe, where these 1 mln owners would actually buy $50 games which is where they REALLY make profits. As much as I'd like Nintendo to expand into China, it's just not going to be worth it. They _could_ expand their manufacturing base so much that they make profits only off hardware in China, but I'd rather them focus their energies elsewhere. |
I agree with most of your post, except these points:
Now, i'm gonna tell you, it's actually not a good deal for Nintendo.
Overall, it's still a good deal because they still make money on the hardware. The piracy issues isn't going to go away anyhow. What's worse, if Nintendo games cannot be pirated, then Nintendo wouldn't make money on hardware either!
Nintendo is fortunate that they actually make a profit on Wii hardware.
I don't see that as Nintendo's good fortune. I see that as good and sound planning by Nintendo! It was their plan to start with - make money on everything. Contrast that to the PS3 which in China is completely and utterly overlooked.
They _could_ expand their manufacturing base so much that they make profits only off hardware in China, but I'd rather them focus their energies elsewhere.
They don't need to manufacture hardware and distribute in China - all the independent retailers are doing this already! Even with an official launch in Hong Kong, the PS3 is still selling miserably compared to the Wii which hasn't been, and probably will never be, officially launched here. Yet, despite the lack of official distribution or even hardware, you can find all the Wiis you want here, and hardly any PS3s are being carried by retailers because it simply doesn't sell.
