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Kimishima: Internal sales representative projected Wii U to sell 100 million Units

P

Poetic.Injustice

Member
Thought this was interesting from the shareholder meeting.

I would first like to clarify my purported comments on Wii U. I do not wish to make excuses, but at the time of the Wii U launch, I was responsible for our sales base in the United States, and I never made any pessimistic comments. In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide. The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit. I said that, since the Wii had already sold so well, we need to clearly explain the attraction of the Wii U if we are to get beyond that and sell the new system, and that this would be no easy task. I was responsible for selling the Wii U, and I knew what was good about it, so I talked with those in charge of sales about the importance of conveying the attractiveness of Wii U to consumers. I am guessing that some of this communication may have come across in a negative tone.
Click to expand...

https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/stock/meeting/160629qa/03.html
 
J

Jebusman

Banned
I mean, I can see the logic in

- We made a console called the Wii
- It sold like gangbusters
- We're making a new console that ALSO has the word "Wii" in it
- SURELY it'll also sell like gangbusters.

Nintendo had believed that the massive sales of the Wii had re-created a level of brand awareness they haven't had since the late 80s/early 90s. I think they honestly needed something like the WiiU to make them see otherwise.
 
Z

Zen_Arcade

Banned
They should fire whoever thought that and hire me. I could have told them it wasn't going to sell 100 million before it ever hit the market.
 
B

Blackleg-sanji1

Banned
If they were going to bank on the Wii name that much at least call it Wii2 it's still a silly name but less silly and less confusing than wiiu
 
S

Scully Scully Scoo

Member
if sony/ms didnt copy them it would have
dc1.jpg
 
W

wrowa

Member
Jebusman said:
I mean, I can see the logic in

- We made a console called the Wii
- It sold like gangbusters
- We're making a new console that ALSO has the word "Wii" in it
- SURELY it'll also sell like gangbusters.
Click to expand...

They did ignore that the Wii already lost most of its mindshare by the time they finally released the Wii U, that Wii U's gimmick really wasn't anywhere near as attractive or novel as the Wiimote and that 300$ is kinda too much to ask for for a Nintendo console, especially when the comparable competitors were cheaper.

Wii U and 3DS both felt like Nintendo thought they could do no wrong after Wii and DS. Both were very flawed systems with questionable gimmicks and bad launch strategies.
 
P

Plinko

Wildcard berths that can't beat teams without a winning record should have homefield advantage
I am reminded of Bob Uecker's line from Major League:

"JUST a bit outside."

I mean, that was an awful assumption. Here's hoping they learned their lesson.
 
Eolz

Eolz

Member
In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide. The thinking was that because Wii sold well, Wii U would follow suit. I said that, since the Wii had already sold so well, we need to clearly explain the attraction of the Wii U if we are to get beyond that and sell the new system, and that this would be no easy task.
Click to expand...

That's not what was said at all though. Keyword is "someone thought that the WiiU would sell 100M".
Kimishima doesn't say after his remark what was Nintendo's global expectation for the platform.
 
F

friskykillface

Banned
I mean, after wii Nintendo felt cocky to the max probably, same as Sony did after the PS2

hopefully they learned with NX but only time will tell
 
B

benjammin

Member
The fact that they thought THAT console would sell 100m copies actually hurts my expectations for NX. The name and marketing alone should have been revamped long before release.
 
P

Pie and Beans

Look for me on the local news, I'll be the guy arrested for trying to burn down a Nintendo exec's house.
Them stubbornly sticking to a narrative of the WiiU turning round on the dime of one game was the real continuing naivety.

I guess we're going to see soon if they're truly aware of what they needed to do to stay a hardware platform.
 
W

wrowa

Member
Valen said:
What a difference switching that "U" to a "2" could have made.
Click to expand...

It really wouldn't have changed much. People confusing the Wii U with a Wii add-on was mostly just due to people not having been interested enough in the GamePad and games to actually take a closer look at the hardware. It was a sign of disenterest.
 
V

Vashetti

Banned
I feel as though they should have done what Pachter predicted and prolonged the Wii for 2-3 years with a Wii HD (i.e. a Wii console with an HDMI port, maybe slightly better specs).
 
B

Breakage

Member
Nintendo thought they would reach a 100 million with last gen hardware and an input controller that looks a Fisher-Price My First Tablet?
 
-shadow-

-shadow-

Member
How naive was that person? Because you can't possibly say that with a straight face after E3 2011 caused so much confusion just to not fix it in the year and a half following...
 
T

Torokil

Member
I still think the Wii U would've done decent-ish if they just cut the gamepad, made the original wiimotes the main controller again, and sold it for a relatively cheap price in 2011.
 
S

Sho_Nuff82

Member
Wii U was at least two years too late to capitalize on the peak of the Wii popularity.

The software sales weren't in the garbage because people were waiting for the next console, they had already moved on.

At least the NX is actually catching Sony and MS mid-gen.
 
C

Coriolanus

Banned
wrowa said:
Wii U and 3DS both felt like Nintendo thought they could do no wrong after Wii and DS. Both were very flawed systems with questionable gimmicks and bad launch strategies.
Click to expand...

You'd think that the company would have learned its lessons after the n64 and the gc.
 
B

BY2K

Membero Americo
Wait...

In an internal sales representative meeting, someone projected that we would sell close to 100 million Wii U systems worldwide.
Click to expand...

So SOMEONE at Nintendo projected 100 Million. With a dumb as a rock reasoning.

Nothing to see here.
 
K

KillerMan91

Member
Well Nintendo has been hilariously bad at forecasting hw sales for years now. For example they have never hit their original 3DS forecast for any Fiscal Year. It has always needed some adjustments downwards.
 
A

Aaronrules380

Member
People need to learn to actually read. Including the OP for that matter, since that was clearly just one guy, not the company as a whole
 
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