The original Nintendo Wii was a runaway success but the new Wii U has had a rough start. After a bad-to-decent December that included the Holiday period, sales have collapsed in the US in January and February. Nintendo hopes that future game titles will boost Wii U sales.
Wii U has had a rough start
The Wii U sold 460,000 units in December 2012, which was not impressive considering that the original Wii sold 475,000 in the same month. But the real bad news started to appear in January and has continued into February.
The Nintendo Wii U has had a rough start
In January, Nintendo sold below 60,000 Wii Us and in February only about 64,000 units were moved. This is significantly lower than the PS3 and Xbox 360 systems. In fact, the PS3 and Xbox 360 systems have never recorded worse sales performance than the Wii U’s January-February sales in any of the months since launch.
If sales do not start to pick up soon it could become a serious problem for Nintendo as it will affect game sales and consequently new games funding; a downward spiral.
The Wii U has been criticized for its high price tag and for not being a next-generation console, as it compares in graphics to the current PlayStation and Xbox 360 systems. Nintendo has taken a novel approach to the game controller but it has not been a major attraction point for consumers, it seems. Market watchers have also questioned the size of the developer support base as the Wii U launched with only a few major game titles. Nintendo hopes to change that with the coming Super Mario, Zelda and Mario Kart titles.
Have you bought the Wii U? How do you find it?
- Source: NPD, Gamasutra
Wii U has had a rough start
