Although there are a fair share of nay-sayers and doubters surrounding Wii U and its long term prospects for success, there seems to be little doubt that it'll have a strong launch. Pre-orders are sold out at various retailers in the US, for example, while GAME told us a month ago that UK pre-orders are exceeding expectations. The only down-side to high demand is the resulting issue with supply, however, and a worrying report from CVG suggests that there could be issues in the UK.
It's reported that only 25,000 units will arrive for launch day in the UK, with two sources backing the figure and one telling CVG that its retail group won't be able to fulfil all pre-orders. That's certainly a low figure, especially as Wii sold 105,000 units in its first weekend on sale in the country, giving a stark indication that having only a quarter of that number simply won't be enough. A third source has said that it expects between 75,000 and 100,000 units, but admitted that it doesn't know "whether this allocation will arrive on day one or be distributed across a number of weeks".
Satoru Iwata himself confirmed, in an investor's briefing this week, that projections of 5.5 million Wii U sales up to 31st March were limited by production capacity, and reports of manufacturing being slowed by the complexity of the GamePad and a recent factory fire haven't helped matters. With a European release date of 30th November, we certainly hope that no gamers are left disappointed by unfulfilled pre-orders.
[source computerandvideogames.com]
Comments 26
Maybe Nintendo should rethink its stance about having kids involved in the manufacturing of the WiiU.
as long as i get my wii u premium then im happy
@Burning_Spear it wasnt nintendo employing kids, it was the manufacturing company, foxconn
Well then. I guess it's to late to change my mind about the Wii U...
"It's reported that only 25,000 units will arrive for launch day in the UK,"
That sucks.
Hope everyone who preordered one, wherever you may be, will get one.
if i dont get one i'll be pissed
@burning_spear
Since Nintendo's stance is that there should be no minors working at the plants are you suggesting that Nintendo can maybe make some more faster if it loosens up its restrictions and helps the manufacturer's hire and coerce younger kids to work?
I've received an email from Toys R Us today informing me that the UK release date has been changed to the 14th of December, anybody had anything similar from other retailers?
25,000 at launch? That sounds erroneously low, unless it's been taken out of context. "An average of 25,000 per day", meaning a shipment of 100,000 every 4 days, would at least make a little more sense.
@parpirate My Premium Pack pre-order has been moved back to the end of December from Amazon!
@johnhood Mines a Zombi U pack, though my email said it was the white console I'm hoping it was just a generic email they sent to all the preorders. Wouldn't have thought Nintendo would move the release date past Christmas just to ensure all preorders get sent at the same time, they'd lose far too much respect.
@rjejr
I agree with you. 25K is highly unlikely. And when's the last time people have jumped at the chance to make headlines without having the story straight? (Heavy sarcasm). You're probably right in that someone said maybe 25K per week or each day sread over a few days...
Or 25k of the ZombiU pack, with more of the premium pack and basic packs. Either way, I haven't heard anything from Sainsbury's Entertainment, which is where I pre-ordered mine with a juicy 10% off
@parpirate the basic pack has been held back bu tru bit premium is still the 30th I am getting mine from chester store
I hope I get mine,as I pre-ordered mine two weeks ago this weekend.
Well I can't see how this is a bad thing. It seems some want to spread doom and gloom about the console but yet everyone wants one. We'll be fine!
@123akis and @aaronsullivan
I was joking, guys.
(Pachter looks at camera with a worrisome frown) 'Mommy! Nintendo is being mean to me again'
I pre-ordered mine from Gamestation about a month before 13th September when all the price and bundle details were announced so hopefully I'll have been one of the first to place an order (if that counts for anything)
Hmmmmm, could this be yet more gaming media BS?
Go to any UK website or game shop that is selling the Wii U and look at the availability.
If there were only 25000 available they wouldve sold out on day 1. Also consider the fact that Nintendo have put primetime adverts on in the UK which would be mental if they couldnt meet 25% of the original wii's demand
Sounds like a low number that certainly doesn't contribute to the 5.5 million in sales. Glad I preordered mine long ago, that should make me one of the first to receive it
How the hell can there be a shortage for a console that's been shown off over a year and a half before launch!?
Yeah, pre-ordered mine right from day one it was available on shopto.net so hopefully I'll be ok. This is a bit poor from NoE.
Why they are always hidding the console and showing the pad? It is normal that many people believes the pad is the WiiU itself.
I pre-ordered mine early september very much hoping i'll recieve my pack. Amazon has stopped pre-orders in the last week, my local GAME store (Gt Yarmouth..UK) have stopped pre-orders on the basic bundle. Stock allocation must already be known by these companies for them to stop pre-orders. I believe with the UK adverts starting that nintendo's comment on stock maybe a stunt for panic pre-ordering people will inevitably panic to get there pre-orders in. Hope you all recieve your bundles.
I'm just hoping that my Gamestop receives all five of the Black Deluxe consoles that were preordered including mine, otherwise it's the first come/first serve standing in line BS that I wanted to avoid.
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