If I read the numbers correctly, they did manage a profit of $90m on the Wii U from April-Dec. It's just that it sounds like they anticipate losing money in the Jan.-March quarter. I think it still has a chance to be a profitable console and as has been mentioned, components have been coming down in price since it launched and will come down even more over the course of time......
The sooner they kill it the better imo. Nintendo will be bleeding a lot of money because of it and I honestly can't see a way that they'll turn it around. They could honestly already have more Wii Us manufactured than they will sell at this point. That 5 million number they showed during the investors meeting was only shipped units. Software sales are ridiculously low for it too.
I dont buy into them losing consumer faith if they end it earlier. The Wii U has been on the market for a while now and its pretty clear that most dont want it.
A good percentage of the people who bought the Wii were either kids, families, or 20 somethings who bought it because the girlfriend wanted Wii Fit. One of those people being my friend, I was helping him move furniture this summer and I noticed his Wii, which had been boxed up for 2 years already along with the 3 games he purchased for it (Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and some crap third person game).
It's Nintendo's fault for trying to chase these people down again, the Wii was kind of a pop culture moment, now thats it's over, only the gamers (or new gamers) are left.
Those gamers are all quite convinced Nintendo hasn't got anything for them. Short of spending an entirely two years doing nothing but trying to convince these people that they DO have use for a Wii U, Nintendo can't get them back. A lot of gamers are extremely thick-headed. This is quite evident from talking to the majority of them, both online and IRL. The majority of the people Nintendo would need to attract back to their side tend to stop listening, once you bring up Nintendo. They'll just insist Nintendo doesn't have any games they'll be interested and change the subject, or just call Nintendo kiddie and leave the conversation.
Then there's the ones that play 3DS and basically say the Wii U just isn't worth it due to lack of games. Nintendo needs to attract those people, because they won't be getting the SHOOTAN kids back, any time soon.
I think their is still a large segment of families that may get a Wii U that have not so far due to price. I think they need to get the price down. I love the gamepad myself, but I do think a simple software update and a budget bundle with a pro controller and desirable game would be more enticing to this budget family market. They have a ton to offer families with more quality family friendly title, strong local multi-player experiences, and in my view lots of value priced games (things like Game and Wario and Lego City Undercover launching below the $60 price point).
Those people are not going to jump on it at launch for $350, but get that down to $200-$175 with the games coming out (and get the word out more how your Wii controllers and stuff will work) and plenty of parents will jump on that instead of $400-$500 console where every game is $60 and you have to buy all new controllers with no BC......
I am not saying that will win the "console war", but who cares about winning the "console war"? I am saying the Wii U still has a market to expand in to that they need to target
Also consider that for the first ten months of the console, unless you are the early adopter/huge nintendo fan- there really weren't that many reasons to buy it....I got mine in April- I was generally pleased with the purchase at the time, but didn't rave about it like I do now.
At least now, some of my friends have one too. Seemed like before Christmas I was the only person who had one and was almost embarrassed to talk about it b/c nobody knew what it was. There's a decent library now and will get better as the year goes by. Kids will want things like Pikmin, Donkey Kong, Mario Kart, SM3d etc. when they see other kids playing it- and soccer mom's will like these titles for their kids instead of COD, not to mention Wii Fit U. I think worst is behind.
A good percentage of the people who bought the Wii were either kids, families, or 20 somethings who bought it because the girlfriend wanted Wii Fit. One of those people being my friend, I was helping him move furniture this summer and I noticed his Wii, which had been boxed up for 2 years already along with the 3 games he purchased for it (Wii Fit, Mario Kart Wii, and some crap third person game).
It's Nintendo's fault for trying to chase these people down again, the Wii was kind of a pop culture moment, now thats it's over, only the gamers (or new gamers) are left.
Those gamers are all quite convinced Nintendo hasn't got anything for them. Short of spending an entirely two years doing nothing but trying to convince these people that they DO have use for a Wii U, Nintendo can't get them back. A lot of gamers are extremely thick-headed. This is quite evident from talking to the majority of them, both online and IRL. The majority of the people Nintendo would need to attract back to their side tend to stop listening, once you bring up Nintendo. They'll just insist Nintendo doesn't have any games they'll be interested and change the subject, or just call Nintendo kiddie and leave the conversation.
Then there's the ones that play 3DS and basically say the Wii U just isn't worth it due to lack of games. Nintendo needs to attract those people, because they won't be getting the SHOOTAN kids back, any time soon.
I think their is still a large segment of families that may get a Wii U that have not so far due to price. I think they need to get the price down. I love the gamepad myself, but I do think a simple software update and a budget bundle with a pro controller and desirable game would be more enticing to this budget family market. They have a ton to offer families with more quality family friendly title, strong local multi-player experiences, and in my view lots of value priced games (things like Game and Wario and Lego City Undercover launching below the $60 price point).
Those people are not going to jump on it at launch for $350, but get that down to $200-$175 with the games coming out (and get the word out more how your Wii controllers and stuff will work) and plenty of parents will jump on that instead of $400-$500 console where every game is $60 and you have to buy all new controllers with no BC......
I am not saying that will win the "console war", but who cares about winning the "console war"? I am saying the Wii U still has a market to expand in to that they need to target
Those people are not going to jump on it at launch for $350, but get that down to $200-$175 with the games coming out (and get the word out more how your Wii controllers and stuff will work) and plenty of parents will jump on that instead of $400-$500 console where every game is $60 and you have to buy all new controllers with no BC......
Completely agree. The Wii basic is selling in the US now for $250. For a while you could even buy the Skylanders basic bundle for $240 which included 2 games and the Skylanders figures. Nintendo sells replacement Gamepad's for $140 and sells pro controllers for $50. I could see a Wii U basic bundle for $199.99 with a pro controller only and a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 being a HUGE seller. Advertise that customers can still use your old Wii remotes, and you've got a product that should sell itself.
Sadly, I'm sure Nintendo won't do this. Instead they'll be putting more focus on Mario happy meal toys and figuring out how they can get a Nintendo branded pedometer in your pocket. Ugh...
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Topic: Wii U's console life span?
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