Gaming
Wii U Sales Suffer as PS4, Xbox One Dominate
Nintendo has released its sales numbers for its various consoles, and the Wii U — as expected — is not doing well at all. The company announced that it has sold just 5.86 million Wii Us since the console’s launch in 2012, with 2.8 million of those selling in 2013 alone. Comparatively, Microsoft recently announced that it sold 3.9 million Xbox One consoles in the just first few months of availability.
Furthermore, Sony sold a whopping 4.2 million PS4 units within just a few months of launching, proving that Sony and Microsoft are neck and neck so far in the console race, while the Wii U is still in spring training.
Nintendo only sold 1.95 million Wii U consoles during the company’s fiscal third quarter, lasting from October to December. It took the Xbox One just 18 days to reach that same number. Then again, Nintendo says that they made a profit on the increased sales over the holiday season, banking $210 million, but the sales numbers are a 36% drop from a year ago when the console was first launched.
However, it’s not all bad news for Nintendo. The 3DS is selling well, with 7.76 million sold during the quarter, making it the best-selling video games system in the US in 2013 with 12.9 million units sold during the year.
Still, nothing is as successful as the original Wii, which is creeping up on 101 million units sold since the consoles launch in 2006. Of course, the Wii was a revolutionary piece of gaming hardware, making it one of the first consoles to include a motion-tracking remote control, which was insanely popular for all ages.
But it seems like Nintendo’s hay day is over, with the company trying to come up with ways to get revenue flowing again. It was rumored that Nintendo would offer mini-games on smartphones, but the company has denied any such plans. Whatever it’s planning on doing, it certainly can’t afford to create another dud like the Wii U.
Rhys Parker
01/29/2014 at 8:00 am
Craig Lloyd do you know the difference between sales to retailers and sales to consumers?
XB1 sold 3.9m to retailers. 3m were sold to COSUMERS. 900k xboxes were NOT sold.
PS4 sold 4.2m to CONSUMERS. Sony SOLD 1.2m MORE consoles to END USERS. That is anything but neck & neck.
I don’t expect to read an article and have to school the author. Craig Lloyd you need to TRY HARDER.
JP
01/29/2014 at 9:56 am
^^^this
hukhan
01/30/2014 at 2:08 am
Do you know business? Do you think retailers order consoles so they take up valuable retail space? All orders shipped are against confirmed pre-orders or trends. So the consoles shipped and consoles sold are the same number – just a bit early in the recording.
A console 100 dollars less will always outsell a console 100 dollars more. But for the first six months it is more a case of getting the console to fulfil demand internationally then win or loss. Over 5 years I expect Microsoft to have a solid install base and PS4 to have a really good one. But I expect Microsoft to make more money from blockbusters and subscription based models and content agreements. The two consoles are not apple to apple. You can’t compare dicks here unless you are a dick.
Tell me o wise savant. If Sony is beating the crap out of Microsoft because it is a superior console why have PS4 game sales not even cracked Top 10 charts? Why do those sales suck? And if consoles are not being sold to play games what happens to Sony fanboy argument of “It’s for hardcore gamers!”
Jean-Philippe Archibald
02/04/2014 at 8:21 am
I keep reading this everywhere… Nintendo is failing big time, PS4 and XBOX are the clear winners of this consoles-Gen. But if you compare launch time, Nintendo sold over 3 milions systems in the first 2 months, not far from the Xbox numbers for this year. And the fact that they acheved to sell nearly 2 milions system despites the fact that there is 2 new kids on the block comming is great I think. Remember, the “brand new thing” factor is behind the Wii U.
I am pretty sure that the home console market have shrunk, and the present gen console will never acheive 80 milions like the previous one. Now that the holiday period and the launch window have passed, we will see XBOX and PS4 sales slowing. And wii U should have a good year with Mario Kart, SSB and Bayonetta.
On the complete life cycle, the PS4 and XBOX will probably win, but ot by the huge margin you seems to think. You are not reading the numbers correctly.
Jonathan Holland
03/20/2014 at 1:57 am
I agree with you dude. I find this guys accusations against Nintendo to be overexagerated and misleading.