Demand for Wii dying off in Japan

by David Hinkle { Nov 28th 2008 at 2:39PM }

Even though the Wii has surpassed the 7 million mark in Japan, it would appear the console has lost some of its appeal there. During its first year on store shelves, the console sold an average of 386,000 units a month. In its second year since release, that figure is down 24% to 292,000 a month. With the holiday season upon us, the Wii would have to sell 2 million total units over the season to bring its average back up to where it used to be.

It's not just Japan, as well. The NPD figures have shown that the Wii has been selling less and less in North America, as well (although not in October, where Nintendo moved more consoles than in the last 4 months or so. Could this be the beginning of the end for the Wii? Well, with all of the games coming in 2009, we're inclined to think not.

Tags: business, japan, sales, salesfigures

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ejamer @ Nov 28th 2008 2:55PM

Two things to think about:

(1) How do sales compare to the competition in absolute numbers? Wii has regularly outsold PS3 and XBox 360 in Japan. Is the gap between installed units getting smaller now, or continuing to grow?

(2) How do sales compare to the competition in relative numbers? That is, were other gaming systems selling quicker/slower/the same one year ago? Two years ago?

Without more details, saying that Wii sales are trending down in Japan (where over 7 million units are already sold, and the global economic crisis has been seen in multiple markets) means very little.

Kenology18 @ Nov 29th 2008 1:00PM

Exactly. I would think WiiFanboy would put this piece it its proper perspective as opposed to falling in line and sensationalizing it as a "Wii is DOOMED" piece.

Jdawg616 @ Nov 28th 2008 3:05PM

If by 'dying off' you mean continuing to outsell every other system available, then yes, the Wii is 'dying off.' Like you said, they'll pick up with the ridiculously awesome game lineup next year.

Secre @ Nov 28th 2008 4:31PM

It was bound to happen. There's only so many people in the world. Once sales reach a certain point in sales, the demand will drop because there's less people that want it but don't have it. It's not like anyone's going to go out and buy another one unless their broke, or something happened to it. My guess is that half the entire world and their grandmother must own one now, so the demand will definitely drop soon, if not already.

Secre @ Nov 28th 2008 4:36PM

*Once sales reach a certain point,
*unless theirs broke, or something else happened to it.

That's what I get when I try to type something out when I'm half asleep xP... Also, the Remember Me check box should actually remember me, instead of ignoring its own use.

leonus11 @ Nov 28th 2008 4:32PM

i expected for the sales to be A LITTLE BIT smaller for the Wii as the years went by, but by how much have the monthly sales for the Wii went down by is what we REALLY should be asking ourselves. IMO i don't think it has gone down by much at all! besides as you, the blogger, said the 2009 pipeline is looking so SWEET that it'll fly off of store shelves!

Kye - Capcom DF @ Nov 28th 2008 4:47PM

I agree with number 3, Secre. There are a finite amount of people who want to, can and will buy a Wii.
As the number of Wii sales approaches this number, the rate of sales will slow to an effective halt.

Mr Khan @ Nov 28th 2008 6:18PM

Number of Wiis sold to date: ~36 million

Number of people in America, Canada, the EU, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and South Korea: ~1 billion

Certainly the number of potential customers is severely less than that, but market saturation is one huge grand hell of a way away

z @ Nov 28th 2008 5:31PM

Wii has been selling less in North America? I think you guys need to learn to use a calculator. Every single month has been higher than last year in NA except for January. They clearly planned for the typical summer dropoff and the ramp up for holidays this year.

2008 - 2007
Jan: 274 - 436
Feb: 432 - 335
Mar: 721 - 259
Apr: 714 - 360
May: 714 - 338
Jun: 666 - 381
Jul: 555 - 425
Aug: 453 - 403
Sep: 687 - 501
Oct: 803 - 519

As for Japan, the problem in that market is that home consoles in general are dying off. It's not like the PS3 and Xbox360 are replacing the lesser sales of Wii. Only the portables have been picking up the slack and even that is waning due to saturation.

The issues that gaming is facing in Japan is the reason Nintendo makes so many moves that seem strange to us.

Mr Khan @ Nov 28th 2008 6:13PM

I think this reflects the shrinking console market in Japan, more than any particular doom for Nintendo

This is, however, a good sign, because Nintendo's primary "enemy" with the Wii is apathy. As apathy is the enemy laid down in the blue-ocean ideology. If Japanese people are becoming apathetic towards consoles, Nintendo will have to do something to rectify that, possibly something glorious

Also, remember that this is with no changes in price point, in the face of many changes in price point in the competition

hvnlysoldr @ Nov 28th 2008 8:27PM

Time for new colors, in Japan.

@tomic @ Nov 30th 2008 6:21PM

Exactly what I was thinking. Sucks how I was slobbering over the Black Wii all that time and they wound up releasing the white version instead and never offering any new colors...

Oh well.

(01) @ Nov 28th 2008 10:36PM

purely anecdotal, but I saw ~10 on the shelf today when I went to best buy at around 3 PM. Impressed, being Black Friday and all.

wiilover @ Nov 29th 2008 12:29AM

holy sht they are coming! it is starting! get the secret weapon! WII HD!! WII HD!!

Bowser Rogozhin @ Nov 29th 2008 7:15AM

Japan is an elderly nation. They have one of the lowest birth rates in the world, and pretty soon the 75+ will outnumber the under-25s. This leaves an incredible burden on those who you'd consider the 'traditional' console gamer: the under-25s. Not only do they have support themselves, and possible a family of their own, but they have to carry the weight of a growing pension pot for the elderly. This, as well as the financial crisis, a financial crisis which has seen Japanese banks cease to lend to each other in a 'true' Capitalist manner, which has lasted since 1998, has seen a tightening of the easy credit we enjoy/ed in Europe and North America. With less money splashing around the regular Japanese citizen has to act in a much more frugal manner; the 1970s are over.

You also have to factor in the commuter culture which is prevalent in most of urban Japan. Cities tend to leave most people heavily dependent on public transport, which does not leave much time for home console gaming. As I understand it, the fastest growing platforms are mobile phones, which leads itself well to journeys on the bus or train.

This decline not a Wii specific phenomena; the PS3 is performing atrociously, and the 360 is flaying even worse (Microsoft were celebrating selling 10,000 units in a single week a month or so back). A dying nation, with an ever increasing public sector burden, ever increasing taxes, less time to game, isn't going to gobble up Wiis at the same exuberant pace. A slow down is to be expected.

If the numbers were a available, a comparison with Italy would be interesting; they, too, face the same challenges, and the results, I assume, would take on a similar trajectory.

Covarr @ Nov 29th 2008 8:23PM

That picture shows an American Wii.

Dash @ Nov 30th 2008 7:39AM

that's supposed to happen! basic economics!

anyway... still surprised bc it happened years after the release

ADDGAMER @ Nov 30th 2008 8:20AM

1 word that the whole world is aware of "ECONOMY"

Mazrael @ Nov 30th 2008 1:45PM

I've actually found the Wii fairly dissappointing.. Since I got mine at launch.. Wii Sports is pretty good & I'm not even into sports but as soon as I reached pro levels I stopped playing.. Red Steel, best Wii game I've played.. Wii Play was okay for 3 of the games.. Trama Centre: 2nd opinion was awful, Resi 4, instantly dissapointing all I remember is the brown visuals & that stupid girl I couldn't care less about, I even used to shoot her myself.. DBZ:2 that was pretty good, but lacked the effort to animate the scenes between fights.. Neither SSMB or MK were even a patch on the old days, with less that 6 hours play each..

One thing that gets me, is the graphics still look PS2, where the console is capaple of so much more..

Plus the Wii looks a bi

Mazrael @ Nov 30th 2008 1:49PM

...bit nasty on a HDTV..

I had Zelda too, that was ok, but if I ever turn my Wii on, it's for Wii Sports, and I haven't bothered with mine since the latter of SSMB or Kart came out..

SuicideNinja @ Nov 30th 2008 2:19PM

You aren't alone. I have a few different games than that, but I am in the same boat. I really haven't had much urge to play them.

Metroid and Resident Evil are pretty much on the backburner to a dozen other games, which is sad to me.

Give another six months and we'll see where the numbers are at.

PsiWren @ Dec 19th 2008 11:40PM

I think that the Wii might be on the very, very beginning edges of a downtrend, and NOT because it's doing bad or anything. The fact is, of the general public (in Japan and then U.S. and then other countries) that would buy a Wii, how many of the portion percentage doesn't have one already? And personally, I can't think of how many people or families that would go out and buy more than one for themselves.

I think that might also be the reason behind the rumors of a new Wii/Nintendo (?) game console system in 2010.

I'm just hoping that if/when they do put out a new console that it'll keep the WiiMote and sensor controls but still be different and better enough that it'll get people (along with myself) to actually buy the new one instead of just sticking with the one they've got.

leonus11 @ Dec 1st 2008 6:45AM

@ PsiWren

i swear you must have read my mind! lol although i already have a Wii
and I'm VERY VERY happy with the 2009 game releases i hope the the
next Nintendo console (Wii 2.0?) is stronger so that the "graphic"
whores and "Power house" whores will quit complaining. but like i
said I'm happy with my Wii and i am confident i will purchase ninty's
next console. although it'll feel weird if it releases in 2010. why?
because it'll be the only "new" console for that year. correct me if
I'm wrong but i don't think that has happened before.