RSSLet's start the hundred million Wii countdown!
By Tim Conneally | Published September 24, 2009, 6:44 PM
While the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 have gradually had their prices whittled down, and their product SKUs have shuffled no fewer than eight times each, Nintendo's Wii has remained the exact same price with the exact same specs the whole time.
From November 2006 to this very day, Nintendo's never changed the Wii's $249 pricetag.
But today at the Tokyo Game Show, Nintendo announced that the Wii will be getting its first price cut on Sunday, September 27. The 20% price reduction will bring the Wii down alongside the Xbox 360 Arcade at $199, making them the cheapest home video game consoles on the market.
Though this first cut takes place less than a month after both the PlayStation 3 and the Xbox 360 dropped to $299, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told USA Today that market conditions and competition had little bearing on Nintendo's decision to reduce the price.
"Since the launch of Wii, our goal has been to expand the gaming population and get more consumers into this industry that we love. While we have sold more Wiis than any home console after 34 months -- and over 100 million DS -- we think there is still significant opportunity to get more consumers into gaming. Just here in the U.S. we think that opportunity is minimally 50 million consumers in U.S., by continuing to offer more and more value," Fils-Aime said.
That is quite an incredible statement, when considering that the Wii has sold over 53 million units worldwide, and of that, just about half of them were sold in the Americas, according to market research company NPD Group. If the price cut takes place worldwide, this would mean Nintendo is expecting to more than double its current worldwide total.
Of course, Fils-Aime didn't say how long he thought it would take Nintendo to sell that many Wiis, but by comparison, Sony took 5 years and 9 months to sell 100 million Playstation 2s, making it the fastest selling console of all time.
For Nintendo to beat this record, it has until August 19, 2012 to sell 47 million Wiis.
Think it can do it?
The Wii is dropping price b/c the Wii is loosing momentum. They've lost momentum ever since they've become common place in stores. When the Wii was scarce, everyone wanted one, because of course, they couldn't get one. Now, w/ the Wii being out everywhere, no one wants one. Unless Nintendo can release good games for the platform...the Wii will be doomed to be what I've always known it to be when it came out..a fad. Yea...50 million people may have one....but who plays it. All of my friends that have Wii's never play it, it just sits on the shelf and collects dust. And right now, you can get an Xbox 360 Elite for $50 more w/ the rebate going on from MS.
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|Anybody wonder why the Wii has sold 53 million in 34 months? Probably because it is aimed at a much much wider audience than either the other 2 which is quite surprising considering Sony want BR to replace DVD. Their advertising is aiming still at a niche market of 15-30 year olds. I have still yet to see anybody I know have BR because having asked them they just don't see it as a necessity in fact most of them are more than happy with DVD's still
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|From November 2006 to this very day, I have never bought a Wii.
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|Here is your chance to add to the count.
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|Thats okay I bought one.
Great console and great workouts.
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|Easy question.
3 years = 36 months
Nintendo will never sell 1 million Wii each month, especially with PS3 gaining momentum. Not to mention that PS2 completely owned that generation, where mobile gaming wasn't this big.
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|How long does it usually take for companies to release a new gaming console?
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|If I ever buy a gaming console, it will be the Wii.
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|After all this time, they should be able to reduce the price but it seems capacity is still constrained although stores may receive 10 instead of 3 units per week now.
I can't imagine that they won't beat the record but Nintendo would be wise to introduce price reductions on games, also. Even an extra US$2.50 or US$5.00 would make a difference.
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|Only if they can keep the right games. For myself they don't have the right games so I haven't bought any in awhile and I don't even play my Wii (of course I'm the normal targeted age bracket).
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