News Desk: Wii U Stumbles in January

Nintendo’s newest home console moved just 57,000 units last month.

By Kevin Knezevic. Posted 02/15/2013 14:00 7 Comments     ShareThis

Last month wasn’t a particularly good one for Wii U. According to the NPD, Nintendo’s newest home console was only able to sell 57,000 units during its first January on the market.

This figure is a significant drop from the company’s previous home console, which sold 435,000 units during the same time frame. Wii U also lagged behind the competition, most notably Microsoft’s Xbox 360, which shifted 281,000 units and was the best-selling platform last month.

Of course, it’s not entirely fair to paint Wii U’s sales in relation to other consoles; the 360 has seven years’ worth of games in its library and sits at a lower price point, making it a more enticing purchase for consumers, and the severe software drought that Wii U is currently mired in certainly isn’t doing it any favors in winning over converts. Fortunately, there are a number of great titles looming on the horizon for the system, which should help turn its fortunes around, but it’s clear that Nintendo has its work cut out for it if the company hopes to replicate some of the success it had with Wii.

Source: CNET

7 Responses to “News Desk: Wii U Stumbles in January”

  • 1244 points
    lukas85 says...

    i’m sad to admid it, but wiiU sales are abysmal at this point, i hope that nintendo turn things around later this year.

  • 39 points
    RocketsAstrosTexans says...

    Have no fear Lego City is nearly here! We got our best Chase McCain on the case!

  • 96 points
    morpha says...

    There are some graphs out on the internet showing the wiiU’s current sales per week data stacked up against all the other consoles. The wiiu is doing about the same as the ps3 and xbox360 did when they launched.

    The press just like to be negetive about nintendo without actually doing their research first.

  • 240 points
    Windy says...

    The 360 also offers a far better online gaming service with its online multiplayer and downloadable content. It smokes the Wii and Wii-U in that respect. I think this is why the Wii lagged behind the 360 the past couple of years. Nintendo still seems pretty intent on Not doing this type of service still. They have added a few online features but nothing compared to 360. Weak at best so far for online

  • 432 points
    dmgice says...

    I think the slump in sales has to do with the slump in games. You need to have exciting titles to advertise and sell in order to sell systems. The PS3 and 360 had a handful of games in January and February.

    I expect February NPD results to be similar to the January ones. But I expect the Wii U to sell almost 80 million units worldwide in it’s life span, which I judge to be about 5 years. Do I believe in doom and gloom? Nope. Although I do have to state that the XBOX 360 is only doing well in the US market. I think this may have to do with the inherent cheapness of the system and the prevalence of bundles for it. Also, the amount of easy to purchase used games for the system. So, it’s a good value for people who want to populate their collections with older titles.

  • 192 points
    Robin Wilde says...

    It’ll recover, just as the 3DS did and just as the PS3 did. It’s new, it’s costly and there aren’t enough games yet. Have patience, comrades.

  • 1379 points
    xeacons says...

    We know it’s got an awesome line-up coming. That should turn things around. You think they’ll reconsider that price drop?

Leave a Reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Log In 0 points Log in or register to grow your Ninja Score while interacting with our site.
Nintendojo's RSS Feeds

All Updates Podcast
News Comments
Like and follow usFacebookTwitter Friend Code Exchange + Game with Us Join the Team!