News: Wii U Earns Higher Launch Revenue Than Wii Page 1

Wii U Earns Higher Launch Revenue Than Wii

Nintendo fans and critics may have been twiddling thumbs in anticipation of the launch sales figures for the Wii U, and the NPD Group have confirmed how the system has performed across North America so far.

Cutting a long story short, the Nintendo Wii U has sold more than $300 million in revenue in the US alone, amassing around 890,000 units in 41 days. The sales combine both SKUs - the basic bundle at $299 and the premium variety at a slightly higher $349.

During December alone the Wii U sold 460,000 units despite shortages

These figures surpass the performance of the original Nintendo Wii during the same launch time-frame which took $270 million, based on a single $299 bundle.

While the Wii launch established new benchmarks in the United States, Wii U has surpassed its predecessor in perhaps the most important category: revenue generation. The demand for the Deluxe SKU, which was essentially sold out at retail this holiday, and the strong attach rate of New Super Mario Bros. U, shows that we have the value and the games to drive momentum in 2013. We look forward to offering great new experiences and bringing smiles to millions of new faces throughout the year.

Scott Moffitt, Nintendo of America executive vice president of Sales & Marketing

Nintendo's latest console wasn't the only one that folks unwrapped during the festive season - the Wii sold 475,000 units in December and the Nintendo 3DS stormed the market with 1.25 million gracing the Christmas tree.

North American readers - did you buy/receive Nintendo hardware during the holidays?

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meeto_0 11.01.2013#1

If nintendo can achieve all this with just Mario U and Zomibie U (I think this 3rd party game has helped nintendo with the older crowd) Then imagine what they could do if all Third part devs pulled the motha f***ing finger out and started making announcements.
Nintendo AAA anouncements wouldnt hurt

JayUK 11.01.2013#2

Of course it brought in more money than the Wii, it cost £120 more. With a price like that, it could have done ngage numbers and still beat the Wii lol. The important figures are sales and profits, and those were considerably less than the Wii launch.

crackedthesky 11.01.2013#3

JayUK said:
Of course it brought in more money than the Wii, it cost £120 more. With a price like that, it could have done ngage numbers and still beat the Wii lol.

This isn't necessarily true, because the system costs considerably more to make than the Wii, so much so that the Wii U is sold at a loss.

Speaking of which, this article is slightly off. The US price for Wii U is $299 for the basic set and $349 for the premium.

NNID: crackedthesky
My blog, mostly about writing: http://www.davidjlovato.com

ScreamoPichu 11.01.2013#4

I got mine during the holiday season. I'm concerned for Europe, though. Future doesn't seem to pretty for Wii U over there. (At least the present doesn't.)

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JayUK 11.01.2013#5

justonesp00lturn said:
JayUK said:
Of course it brought in more money than the Wii, it cost £120 more. With a price like that, it could have done ngage numbers and still beat the Wii lol.
This isn't necessarily true, because the system costs considerably more to make than the Wii, so much so that the Wii U is sold at a loss.
Speaking of which, this article is slightly off. The US price for Wii U is $299 for the basic set and $349 for the premium.

Yeah but those figures aren't taking into account costs. Its just how much Nintendo received. That's why I said the figure is pretty much pointless. As the Wii U didn't make a bigger profit for Nintendo over the same period and they didn't sell as many. All this figure shows is fewer people paid more for a product, which didn't make a profit. I don't see how anyone can paint that as a good thing, which ever way you look at it.

J4K 11.01.2013#6

Jay is correct. If this is gross revenue and not net income, than the figure is pretty much pointless. Nintendo is charging significantly more than they did for the Wii so of course "revenue" should be larger.

That said, sales aren't bad for the system. Not great, and not as good as these figures would want you to believe, but not bad.

crackedthesky 12.01.2013#7

JayUK said:

Yeah but those figures aren't taking into account costs. Its just how much Nintendo received. That's why I said the figure is pretty much pointless. As the Wii U didn't make a bigger profit for Nintendo over the same period and they didn't sell as many. All this figure shows is fewer people paid more for a product, which didn't make a profit. I don't see how anyone can paint that as a good thing, which ever way you look at it.

That's true, for some reason I was thinking this was profit and not just revenue.
I'd also be interested to see how the whole "selling at a loss" thing works. The Deluxe set is $50 more than the basic set, are both sold at a loss? Does the Deluxe set turn a profit? As you said, this report doesn't really tell us anything that isn't obvious.

NNID: crackedthesky
My blog, mostly about writing: http://www.davidjlovato.com

JayUK 12.01.2013#8

justonesp00lturn said:
JayUK said:

Yeah but those figures aren't taking into account costs. Its just how much Nintendo received. That's why I said the figure is pretty much pointless. As the Wii U didn't make a bigger profit for Nintendo over the same period and they didn't sell as many. All this figure shows is fewer people paid more for a product, which didn't make a profit. I don't see how anyone can paint that as a good thing, which ever way you look at it.
That's true, for some reason I was thinking this was profit and not just revenue.
I'd also be interested to see how the whole "selling at a loss" thing works. The Deluxe set is $50 more than the basic set, are both sold at a loss? Does the Deluxe set turn a profit? As you said, this report doesn't really tell us anything that isn't obvious.

I'd assume the Deluxe turns a profit, well you'd hope so.

IkeFE 12.01.2013#9

JayUK said:
justonesp00lturn said:
JayUK said:

Yeah but those figures aren't taking into account costs. Its just how much Nintendo received. That's why I said the figure is pretty much pointless. As the Wii U didn't make a bigger profit for Nintendo over the same period and they didn't sell as many. All this figure shows is fewer people paid more for a product, which didn't make a profit. I don't see how anyone can paint that as a good thing, which ever way you look at it.
That's true, for some reason I was thinking this was profit and not just revenue.
I'd also be interested to see how the whole "selling at a loss" thing works. The Deluxe set is $50 more than the basic set, are both sold at a loss? Does the Deluxe set turn a profit? As you said, this report doesn't really tell us anything that isn't obvious.
I'd assume the Deluxe turns a profit, well you'd hope so.

Whether Nintendo made a $20 profit or a $2 loss, THEY'RE DOOOOOOOMED anyway.