Topic: Wii North American launch to have 1 Million Wii's

[Flames_of_chaos]

http://thewiire.com/news/499/1/NA_Launch_One_Million_Wii

I can only say wow and its a great way to stick it to Sony 2 days after the PS3 launches. And if Nintendo can get 2.5 times more units out on shelves with just a 2 day difference I can say its worth the wait.

[Neodymium]

I really think Nintendo could have benefitted from a short shipment a few weeks before Sony, then a flood like this around the time PS3 launches. That is the way to stir up hype and get up with Sony.

[Flames_of_chaos]

Well Neo I would rather know that I will be assured to have a Wii at launch rather than wait for the next massive shipment. And seriously two days is nothing.

[UncleBob]

Let's do some math.  I once read that Wal*Mart has about 35% of the US market when it comes to Video Game Sales.  So, let's say that the US gets 50% of that one million... And Wal*Mart gets 35% of that 50%.  Now, there are about 3,500 Wal*Mart stores and Sam's Clubs in the US... doing the math, that makes about 50 Wii per store.  Yay!

[IceCold]

How on earth would Walmart be able to get 70% of all North American Wiis?

[Arbok]

Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob
So, let's say that the US gets 50% of that one million...

You really think Canada and Mexico (they launch there at the same time... right?) are going to get as many Wiis as the US?

[UncleBob]

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Originally posted by: IceCold
How on earth would Walmart be able to get 70% of all North American Wiis?

Err... no.  I figured 35% (Wal*Mart's percent of the market) of 50% (that I 'guessed' the US would get)... or 17.5%

It Wal*Mart got 70% of the NA allotment, that'd make 200 units per store.

Quote
Originally posted by: Arbok

Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob
So, let's say that the US gets 50% of that one million...

You really think Canada and Mexico (they launch there at the same time... right?) are going to get as many Wiis as the US?

Probably not, but I was lowballing the estimate.

[IceCold]

Heh, sorry - I read it as 35% out of the 50% total shipment, so 70%. And I meant the US. It's still a lot, though; even if they have 35% of the videogame market, they probably won't get that proportion of hardware. The units probably also won't be divided equally between each Walmart..

[UncleBob]

Of course the units won't be divided evenly per store, but I don't think it's unreasonable to assume that, if StoreX accounts for X% of a company sales, then StoreX should get X% of that company's product.

Also, Wal*Mart accounts for about 35% of the total Video Game Market.  I wonder what percentage of Nintendo's US sales come from Wal*Mart.  Considering how unfriendly toward Nintendo that the second largest seller in the US Market is (EBGames/GameStop with, I believe, 11%), and considering the type of shopper that would purchase stuff at Wal*Mart vs. other stores, it seems to me that Wal*Mart could easily account for more than 35% of Nintendo's US Sales.

[IceCold]

Speaking of WalMart, I hope this rumour isn't true..

Quote
Wal-Mart's electronics department layout does not have an allotment of space to demo the Nintendo Wii for the fourth quarter. Our tipster says that after asking for greater details as to why they wouldn't be installing any Wii demo units, he was told by his manager that they had "fear of some kid getting hurt or injuring others in the process of flailing his arms around."

Although "Nintendo doesn't comment on rumors" and Wal-Mart corporate hasn't answered our query, after calling numerous Wal-Marts across the country, we have confirmed that it is true that the Wii is not part of the Q4 layout.

Did Wal-Mart executives decide that the Wii was just too dangerous to demo in its stores? Is Sony paying off the world's largest retailer in an attempt to sway consumer mind-share when shopping?

Doesn't look that way. Although Nintendo and Wal-Mart won't talk, employees from various Wal-Marts have stated that they expect to get their Wii demo units in for Q1 2007 and believe it was a timing issue. They did stress that although they will not be demoing the unit, they will certainly have the Wii for sale at launch in November.

Nintendo has said it themselves; playing is believing. Especially for the Wii - it needs as many demo kiosks out there as possible. And not having one in Walmart definitely isn't the place to start..

[Michael8983]

It's good to know for certain that come the end of the year, for the first time EVER, a Nintendo console will be ahead of a Sony console in sells.
Actually this past generation will be reversed with MS in the lead, Nintendo in second, and Sony dead last.

[UncleBob]

The "no Kiosks in Wal*Mart" until Q1 is a good thing.  That means a good 3,000 more units on the market.

[JonLeung]

(If it hasn't already been said, plural of Wii is Wiis, not Wii's.  Apostrophes aren't for plurals!  >_< )

Whether the Wal-Mart thing is true, it does seem likely that for any store to safely have Wii kiosks, they might have to consider making more space for them.  There may be settings for the WiiPointers' sensitivity, but you can't sell Red Steel's sword action as well if you don't have people making decent-sized motions.

EDIT: Okay, Wal-Mart probably wouldn't be showing Red Steel.  But something like WarioWare: Smooth Moves or Wii Sports wouldn't be the same without full-motion action.

[ThePerm]

so, as predicted there will be a time where Nintendo is beating Sony by default? Marvelous!!

[couchmonkey]

Pfft, not nearly as rare and precious as the beautiful PS3!

[King of Twitch]

Sony obviously can't compete with sales numbers, the way other companies do. They must make it appear their competitors do not exist and use kickbacks to control shelf space. Breaking every Gamecube controller in every store and shutting down the television was too complicated.

[Athrun Zala]

Quote
Originally posted by: Arbok

Quote
Originally posted by: UncleBob
So, let's say that the US gets 50% of that one million...

You really think Canada and Mexico (they launch there at the same time... right?) are going to get as many Wiis as the US?

well, the press release did say AmericaS...but I'm guessing, since the US is the biggest market, they would likely get more than 50% of the shipment....75% most likely....

[JonLeung]

Sony, with their limited quantities, will probably be able to brag of a higher percentage of PS3s sold in less time.  As in, they're more likely to sell 100% of their first shipment in one day if their shipment is smaller...like, you know, only 400,000 for North America.