Nintendo Expects to Meet Wii Goals
Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime painted a rosy picture for the Wii Wednesday, saying it should easily meet its target of shipping four million consoles worldwide by years end.
Fils-Aime said there was some opportunity for Wii shipments to end up coming above company estimates, but that would be limited by manufacturing. He gave no indication of how many more consoles could be potentially produced above the four million currently projected, but called such a prospect "challenging."
"We will sell everything we make so now it's simply a manufacturing thing," Reuters quoted him as saying at the news service's Media Summit in New York.
This came one day after Nintendo revealed that it had sold some 600,000 Wiis in the first eight days of launch, including nearly 500,000 copies of its latest Legend of Zelda title, Twilight Princess. So far, the Wii launch has generated $190 million in revenue for the company.
Some analysts believe that the low price point of the Wii, combined with the amount of buzz it has received and the unique gameplay, could make the console the sleeper hit of the holiday season.
"Having put the final version through its paces over the last few days has brought back a lot of what I like about video games, it's really fun," JupiterResearch senior analyst Michael Gartenberg said of the console at its launch.
Add to this Sony's struggles to produce PS3 consoles, and Nintendo will likely be a solid second to the Xbox 360 in terms of market share.