Topic: Nintendo Sales Panic: May 2016 US NPD Group Results

[Shaymin]

Emphasis on "panic".

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/42817/nintendo-sales-panic-may-2016-us-npd-group-results

Although Nintendo did cross a milestone with hardware, May was a historically weak month overall for the company in US stores.

Nintendo announced with the sales results that the 3DS family of systems (including 2DS, which had a price drop this month) had crossed 60 million units sold. However, estimates for the system had one of its lowest US months ever with a reported 72,000 units, and the Wii U had its worst month of hardware sales ever in the United States at approximately 28,000 units.

On the software front, the Nintendo Selects version of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D was in the top 25 individual SKUs during the month, with no mention of the performance of the month's only retail release Disney Art Academy. In the top 10, future Wii U retail release Minecraft landed at #5 in the combined format top 10.

[Ian Sane]

It isn't surprising that the Wii U would have it's lowest month ever.  June has enough games that there will probably be an uptake but aside from that I figure the "lowest month ever" title will switch hands continuously over the rest of the year.

Why would someone buy a Wii U at this point?  Their are very few games on the horizon.  I'm looking forward to something like TMS but that's a niche title.  There won't be that many people for which THAT is the game that pushes them into buying a Wii U.  Usually that's the approach, where someone is waiting for enough games that really catch their interest to be released before they end up buying a console.  If you haven't been swayed by the games already released, you're not going to be swayed by the few games still to come.  All the really big games have already come out with the exception of Zelda.  Except that is also an NX title so a Wii U purchase is unnecessary.  At the very least you would wait and see what the NX is before making a decision.

The only other thing that can spur sales is a price drop.  That can move the line so to speak.  Maybe someone was waiting for a few more titles to justify a purchase but with a lower price then they need less titles to justify it so maybe that ends up being enough.  You can also get some "eh, what the hell" purchases too.

But with neither of those, the sales are just going to drop more and more.  If you feel the current lineup is worth the current price you probably already own a Wii U.

[Luigi Dude]

Plus this isn't really a surprise to Nintendo either.  They even said in their yearly fiscal report they're only expecting to ship about 700,000 Wii U's worldwide this entire fiscal year, which even includes the holiday months.  So these sales are pretty much in line with what Nintendo expects from the system to perform now.

[Lemonade]

Why would someone buy a Wii U at this point?  Their are very few games on the horizon. 

They would buy one for all the really good games that have already been released.

[nickmitch]

Then why haven't they already bought one?

[Phil]

Then why haven't they already bought one?

I already own a Wii.

[ejamer]

Exactly the point: anyone who is interested in what the Wii U offers has probably already bought one.  To sell more, Nintendo needs to find a way to appeal to a new demographic (ie: drop the price or release more content that is exciting enough to move consoles).


Wii U is dead in the water. I'm not saying it's a bad console, but it very much "is what it is" and that's not going to change.  I do hope for a nice price drop though.  Would love to get a backup Wii U console at some point - even if that's really only for the spare gamepad.

[Soren]

Nintendo is happy with the Wii U's situation because they haven't even hinted at a price drop. But yeah, a new bundle and a price drop is probably the way to go.

[Luigi Dude]

If any price cut happens, it probably won't happen until the holiday season to help stores clear all their Wii U supplies during the holiday sales rush. 

[Phil]

Exactly the point: anyone who is interested in what the Wii U offers has probably already bought one.  To sell more, Nintendo needs to find a way to appeal to a new demographic (ie: drop the price or release more content that is exciting enough to move consoles).


Wii U is dead in the water. I'm not saying it's a bad console, but it very much "is what it is" and that's not going to change.  I do hope for a nice price drop though.  Would love to get a backup Wii U console at some point - even if that's really only for the spare gamepad.

Now I gotta 'splain me joke.


I was saying I already owned a Wii, like many consumers, still thinking the Wii U is just a Wii upgrade, something that killed any kind of low momentum the Wii U already had.

[Rancid Planet]

I'm one of those that are patiently waiting for a price cut before I buy a Wii U.

[tyto_alba]

There isn' t going to be a Wii U pricedrop.
With so few on the market and amazing library the prices are only going to go up.

[nickmitch]

I don't think the MSRP is going to increase; that doesn't happen.  Maybe the resale value, but that's probably a few years from happening (iff the NX isn't backwards compatible).

[Mop it up]

60 million in a little more than 5 years is still pretty good for the 3DS, all things considered.