50%? More like 20% (1.3 billion out of 6.6 billion).

Bingo.  It's nice to finally have a hard number straight from Nintendo, it's pretty much unquestionable now.

I think he meant China has like 50% of all Asian people..... ...... ...... ..... ?

don't think so :P

So if they are producing 1.8 million per month and sold 1.3 million per month the last three months, that makes 500,000 stockpiled per month. If we assume they have been doing this for the past four months and will continue for October, they have an additional 2.5 million stockpiled. Therefore, 1.8 million available for November, then 4.3 million for December.

So take end of September sales (13.2 million) plus October (1.3 million) plus November (1.8 million) plus December (4.3 million) and we arrive at 20.6 million in sales by the end of December. Not too shabby.

And they called me crazy. Hahahahahahahaha!

John Lucas 

i'd be curious to see what their strategy with regards to the chinese market.

as we all know, there's no stopping the chinese from pirating. nintendo says they need to partner with local game developers to take advantage.

i have no idea what they have in mind. the only video games you can take money off the chinese is MMOs. the wii isn't particularly well suited for that, but we'll just have to see.

 Same here, only they called me crazy for saying that Nintendo was ramping up production to stockpile not to rush all they can to market =P  

@Lingyis, not sure but its very likely that they are mostly interested in the profits from selling the hardware initially.  They may actually have a plan to help curb piracy but I would be beyond shocked if they were ever able to actually fully stop it.  Once you get to understand some basic truths about computers you realise that stuff like piracy isn't something you can stop with a built in protection alone.  

 That's why I said MMOs

For whatever reason, the Chinese absolutely LOVE MMOs.  There are at least 5 major online gaming companies in China, a few of which are already public companies.  Giant Interactive, the #5, is going IPO in the next few weeks: 

http://www.forbes.com/facesscan/2007/10/15/giant-interactive-ztonline-face-markets-cx_jc_1015autofacescan01.html

 Apparently, people are very much willing to pay for MMOs, but not standalone games.  Like you suggested, there's  no stopping pirating, especially when we're talking about the Chinese.  So Nintendo can only take money in an area where they would gladly hand them over.

 I don't know what fun MMO's that only the Wii could provide.  MMO's are addictive and sedentary... waggle kind of makes you tired and that actually reduces the addictive factor.

Very interesting. 

Actually, there is one way of stoping piracy. Or, at least, one aspect in which they can stop piracy: the console itself. No, I'm not talking about piracy protection, I'm talking about the machine itself being a valuable comodity. The thing is practically selling off of the "tech demo" known as Wii Sports.

If they can sell the console (and other hardware, liek the zapper and board) in China, they win. Do they give a crap if Capcom/Square/EA/anyone else gets to win from that? Not so much. If they sell the machine, they win. That's how they financially won the last generation, after all, and if China expands upon the sort of winning that worked with the GC without harming the business they can still expect to earn in the regions they are more familiar with then good for them.

The Wii has something going for it that the PS2 did not, and for that alone China is a far better region for Nintendo than its competitors. They can't survive the piracy with and degree of respect, but Nintendo is almost untouched by it in the area that matters (since the games sell more than well enough in other regions to pay for themselves).

It's real blue ocean strategy, and I think it means that the console wars may really begin in 2008 like osme Sony fans keep saying, but not in the way they are expecting. China's "middle" class is expanding rapidly (the U.S. gasoline prices are an actual testament to this, in a way) and now is the best time to start taking advantage of that fact.