Was the Wii a fad?

[mike_intellivision]

The wrong question is being asked. The question should be why do the Xbox 360 and PS3 continue to sell so well.

The Wii is the third-best selling gaming console of all times ... trailing only the PS2 and original Playstation. It is going to top 100M in sales when all is done., becoming only the third console to do so. That puts it near a saturation point. But as it was introduced almost six years ago and was using standard (rather than cutting-edge) technology at the time, it is somewhat dated in what it can do. It is also being phased out as Nintendo's main console at about the usual point in time when consoles are replaced, so the decline is not unexpected.

Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 and PS3 are the fourth and fifth best selling consoles of all time. But they still trail the declining Wii by around 30M units sold and it is highly unlikely that the gap will ever be bridged. They too have been on the market a long time (nearly seven and nearly six years respectively). But unlike the Wii, they saw slight gains/level sales in 2011. Cutting edge technology at their introduction (which led to lower original sales and higher prices) have kept them relavent long after most consoles have been "retired" from manufacturing (or at least serving as the lead console.

There are some other factors helping them as well. There has been some success (especially for the Xbox 360) with add-on hardware has extended unit life. A replacement has not been announced, stunting sales of the current console. And given the account strcuture and repair issues, some units being bought today are probably replacement units or upgrades rather than new placements.

[The Wii not allowing DLC and DLGames to be transferred via an account has led many people -- myself included -- to send in their units for repair rather than buy a new console. It was cheaper (just over half the price of a Wii with shipping) and took 10 days.]

Mike from Morgantown