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Mummelmann on 27 February 2013
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Gamerace said:
Mummelmann said:
At least the weekly numbers appear to have stabilized allround for all platforms, that's the good news. The bad news is that the Wii U has stabilized at a very low average.

They'll be way off on their estimate, they'll hardly be able to ship any units at all in Q1 for 2013. I simply cannot imagine that Nintendo can be pleased with missing even this revised projection big time and ending up at around 60% of the original figure.

I can't imagine Nintendo will be happy with WiiU's sales.  Shareholders will be out for blood.

My big concern is if sales continue at this level for an extended period (and without any system-seller software due out anytime soon it could be months), the system will be percieved as 'dead' and even when the big games do launch - people will not be willing to purchase a 'dead' console to play one or two great games.  

Packing in additional games with the Premium bundle, removing the Basic bundle and offering great deals or even free stuff at the e-store might stem the tide somewhat. They kind of painted themselves into the corner with the costs, they have no leverage with pricing for now, even a 50$ price cut could have made a difference.

You're right though, in the consumer electronics business its all about perception, if your product is deemed to have lots of momentum, it will yield even more sales, sales beget sales, so to speak. Hype and consumer excitement rises with the momentum, the molbile market is the perfect example of this. If these low numbers keep on showing on the charts for another 12-15 weeks, there will be blood, both from would-be customers and investors alike. Historically, the spring and summer months are tough for all consoles unless one has a big hitter to drive sales a bit. The true fate of the Wii U will be revealed around October/November, we'll see how it holds up against the other two that are sure to arrive, how the general outlook of sales will be and, ultimately, what kind of impact the upcoming big hitters will have on the momentum.

Personally though, even if the price is cut before the holidays, I fear that the Wii U could have a decent holiday season but fall right back down below the competition after the season, kind of like it did now and like the Wii did in the past two years. Selling any significant number in Europe also appears to be a challenge ahead of them.

All in all, I'm very excited about a new generation finally having started though, the 7th generation was growing stale and boring from a sales perspective plus, I really can't wait for the whole thing to be over (the 7th gen is my least favourite gen by far)...