DSi Won't Replace The DS Lite (At Least Not In The US)

The DS Lite was a replacement for the DS. Came in, took over the place, you never saw the DS Phat again. So will the DSi do the same thing to the DS Lite? Not in the US, says Nintendo Smile Machine Cammie Dunaway:

Right now we’re still working through what the strategy's going to be here. But we think that there's huge untapped potential for the DS Lite. Because when you’ve got only one in every five households in the U.S., compared to one in every two in Japan, it says there's potential.

You’ve seen some of the work we’ve done this year with celebrities, that we're bringing a lot of new consumers in to the DS. So I think there’s opportunity for both of them to coexist for some period of time.

You know, I still have nothing but a DS Phat. And when I see statements like this, I feel like the world's just passing me by...

http://kotaku.com/5058975/dsi-wont-replace-the-ds-lite-at-least-not-in-the-us

I didn't think the DSi would replace the DS Lite completely because there are going to be people who want the BC. It's good that it's been confirmed.

Thank god. Personally, I already have a lite. But other people will get amaizingly screwed by the DSi... now they don't have to.

Nice to know. I'll be gettin a DSi as soon as possible.

hell, i'm still going to buy one. i'm not going to sell my DS Lite tho- i NEED that gba slot. dumb descicion on Nintendo's part.

I'm not surprised that Cammie's statements were more or less taken in the wrong context here. What she's saying is that the DS Lite hasn't hit saturation in America yet, meaning that there will still be people who refuse the DSi in favor of the DS Lite. It's very tricky, actually, to market products on two different tiers simultaneously. Usually one will get more attention than the other, resulting in lost sales potential. That would explain why they're holding off on releasing the DSi here: not because they feel it won't sell, but because it will take some serious planning to properly market them as separate-yet-similar products that each have compelling features over each other.