The Wii is now three years into its lifecycle and it basically took that long for Nintendo to be forced into dropping the console's price point from $249 to $199. Profits at Nintendo are down 52% for the first half, thanks in part to the slumping Wii, and Nintendo President Satoru Iwata is not pleased. Wii sales in Japan have fallen below the 50K unit sales mark per week, and in the U.S. the PS3 managed to outsell the Wii in September.
"As you probably know, the current situation of Wii cannot be defined as healthy," commented Iwata. "The price cut seems to have the least impact here [in Japan] than other parts of the world. It is our urgent mission to recover the momentum of Wii during the holidays utilizing Nintendo's strength."
Although Nintendo may be unhappy with the current performance of the Wii, let's not forget that life-to-date, Nintendo has sold 113.5 million DS units worldwide and 56.14 million Wiis. The company is in fine shape and still dominates the current video game cycle. The Wii burst out of the gate at an incredible pace, which lasted for almost three years. Nobody in their right mind could expect those torrid sales to continue at the same level. With New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Fit Plus, and Zelda Spirit Tracks, we think Nintendo will do pretty well for itself this holiday season.
[Thanks to CVG for the tip].
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