35 Million DSes Sold, 6 Million Wiis By End of March

Wowzer writes "Nintendo just announced its quarterly sales for the end of 2006. Sales for the 9 months were up 72%, while net income was up 43%. From the article: '[There will be] worldwide shipments of 6 million Wii systems by the end of March 2007. Nintendo has sold 35 million DS and DS Lite to date ... As for the next fiscal year, Nintendo expect to sell around 23 million DS Lites, bringing the estimated total of DS units to 58 million by March 31, 2008.' New Super Mario Bros. seems to have legs of its own with 8.64 million copies sold worldwide and continued strong sales. But they seem slow to ship out those Wii with 4 million manufactured last year and 810,000 of those not arriving to stores until now."

Hmm

So, does this mean Nintendo might just as well print the money itself now?

Re:Hmm

They've actually been doing that ever since the start of Eternal Easter [encycloped...matica.com]

Avoid the link if your IT department checks logs!

This link redirected me to a server named pr0n.encyclopediadramatica.com instead of www.encyclopediadramatica.com. I just hope my job doesn't automatically red-flag employee URLs browsed through the mandatory proxy, or I may soon be out of a job.

So, thank

Faulty NPD Numbers

* Nintendo manufactured 4 million Wii systems by the end of 2006 and during that time sold and delivered 3.19 million to its distributors and retail customers around the world, the other 810,000 are slowly arriving at stores now. So they expect another 2.8

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3.19 million is the number of Wiis shipped by the manufacturer worldwide. 1.1 million is the number of Wiis sold by retailers in the US. The significant difference here is the US vs worldwide numbers.

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I understand that. However, North America gets a lion's share of that. We were promised about half of the Wii shipments, when NPD reports that we only received about a third of them. No worries, though. I figured it out. Look at my response to myself right

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Ah hah! Found the exact Nintendo number in their PDF [nintendo.co.jp]:

Apr-Dec '06 (Sales Units in Ten Thousands)
Japan 114
Americas 125
Other 80
------------
Total 319

Actually, NPD didn't give the numbers for our 51st state* to the North, did they? So I suppose that would

I still can't get a Wii !

I know they're making them as fast as they can, but demand just won't let up! Here in Toronto, they are never in stock for more than 15 minutes, and nobody ever seems to know when the next shipment will be arriving. Most retailers get 10-20 units every 5-10 days, and they just fly off the shelves. I would have though that by the end of January the supply would have caught up with demand, but with all the new gamers trying the Wii, seems like it could go on for a while.

(For the record, this will be my first gaming system since the original NES, which I played as a kid.)

I'm looking forward to Wii Sports as a fun way to get my somewhat rounded body back into shape. Guess I'll just have to wait a bit longer. That or stop eating junk food.)

Re:I still can't get a Wii !

I got a Wii yesterday. I just happened to be standing in BB when they put 3 of them out. I grabbed one then the other 2 were picked up before I walked away. Amazing how the demand is holding strong for the system.

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I got mine on Sunday morning. Target got 30 in and started selling at 8am. By the time I got there at 8:50 they had 4. Best part is, my wife has clocked more time than me. I'm playing twilight princess and shes playing Sonic the Hedgehog and Super Mario

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All I have is wii sports atm and some friends and I had an epic bowling game last night. It really is a fun party type of system. Okay, and the video you linked to means another game I have to buy lol...

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Heh, you should check out the minigames included in Wii Sports if you havn't yet. One of the best ones is for bowling, Your goal is to knock down as many pins as you can with one ball, however after each time they will reset the pins and add a line to the

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Curently my list of games to pick up looks like:
Zelda
Redsteel
Elebits (this is a questionable one)
Exite Truck
possibly maden, I really have to try it out first, and the same goes for DBZ (I want to paly it a bit more before hand).

Get Madden, it rocks...

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Yah -- Madden was on my Christmas list, and I kind of regret it now -- it's a football game with nifty controls, but that doesn't stop it from being a football game, and that's very much not my thing. It's currently on loan to some friends who have friends

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You need Rayman. Trust me.

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THe whole point of the special moves was that they were hard to get out. That was one of the things making them special. This sort of ruins it, surely. THe balance of play will end up all wrong, with everybody just doing supermoves all the time, because th

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You need to make a conscious decision not to play that way, and stay fully involved in the action. (Wii makes it much easier just by being fun to play.)

Also, by the time I get to that point, I'm hoping there are some new sporty games out. (Any suggestions?

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Suggestions:
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 07 [ign.com]
SSX Blur Snowboarding [ign.com]

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I think that if you want to combine your exercise with video gaming, DDR is the way to go. It got me off the couch and I lost 30 pounds in the first three months. (265 -> 235) Also, I got my parents hooked on the Eyetoy's Kinetic, and they liked it so

Re:I still can't get a Wii !

"yeah, jump around, get fit!" but its not long before you work out how to play Sports with mere flicks of the wrist, while sprawling back on the sofa in traditional pose.

At least in the case of Wii Sports, that doesn't work as well as it sounds. You *can* do it, but the movements are a lot less natural. Getting up and moving around makes the games a lot easier to play, which helps keep you on your feet.

The other thing that Wii Sports does is that it ramps up the challenge as you play. (Make sure you make yourself a Mii, or you won't have a save file!) So while you may start playing Wii Sports Tennis using leisurely swings, it won't be long before you find yourself concentrating hard on making more powerful swings in the direction you need the ball to go.

Last but not least, play some boxing. I know the "exhaustion" of your character takes some getting used to. Especially when he fails to punch for seemingly unknown reasons. But once you play it enough, it starts to make sense. You need to dodge the blows of your opponent, then knock him from the inside when his glove whooshes by your head. A nice strong punch followed by various jabs usually has him down on the ground in no time flat. Since there is no better cardiovascular workout than Boxing among the Wii Sports games, I highly recommend that you get acquainted with the gameplay. It will leave you breathing heavy and drenched in sweat. But you won't care because it feels just so darn good to get the exercise! ;D

4 million confusion

The 4 million manufactured would explain the large number differences between what was sold and what was promised. 800k+ consoles that didn't arrive in time for the new year certainly makes a difference.

It is disappointing that they couldn't live up to the

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I have no doubt that the consoles will continue to sell like crazy. Right now, you've got sites that track possible locations that might have the Wii near you, and people camping out before stores open. How many consumers are willing to do that? I would gu

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Your post makes me wonder if we'll see DSLitesque sellouts.

From what other responders have said, the DSLite remains sold out even as we approach its first birthday. Were the Wii to duplicate that kind of demand, it's only criticism could likely be Nintendo

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I find it strange that Nintendo has not been able to produce more Wiis, given that most of the technology in the system is rather old. The NPD numbers say they moved 1.1 million units in the US between November and December. By contrast, they moved 1.21

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I don't think it is so much the cost of materials, but the logistics and time to manufacture in general. even if your bill of materials is relatively inexpensive, that may or may not correlate to time to produce a unit, package, then ship to a regional di

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That was my point though. 360 production and PS3 production were held back because the 360 processor, Cell, and Blu-ray diodes were all new technologies with inefficient manufacturing processes. A large percentage of these items manufactured had to be th

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The Nintendo technology issue does exist, but in a different form. Instead of manufacturing a powerful new processor into a complicated system causing the bottleneck, it may have been creating a very small form-factor, tightly integrated system that uses

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I think you've got something there. I think production of the wiimote might be whats slowing them down. You don't see any of them in stores either. Usually controllers are not so hard to come by.

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They haven't been able to really ramp up their DS Lite production either, even though it's been out of stock since its release (Mars 2, 2006) in Japan and is becoming *very* hard to find in europe since November or so...

Re:4 million confusion

I find it strange that Nintendo has not been able to produce more Wiis, given that most of the technology in the system is rather old.

It's a manufacturing capacity problem. Nintendo's business is sized according to the requirements of their previous generation of hardware. This unexpectedly high demand for Wiis has left them in dire need to increase their production capabilities. Unfortunately, it takes months to tool up a new factory and begin moving parts to that factory. And that factory won't even be able to work at full capacity if there's a shortage of some particular part. For example, the Wii cases are highly customized pieces of plastic. If the provider of those cases can't make enough to meet production needs, then the entire pipeline won't be able to operate at maximum capacity.

All I can say is that it's a good thing that Nintendo gets their chips from IBM. IBM is probably the only company that could provide Nintendo with enough customized microprocessors to scale with their needs.

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The accelerometers they're using were only introduced in November 2005.

Manufacturers introduce new parts all the time. They usually take over the manufacturing facilities of the parts they're replacing. Accelerometers have been around long enough to where

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Manufacturers introduce new parts all the time. They usually take over the manufacturing facilities of the parts they're replacing. Accelerometers have been around long enough to where supply shouldn't be that big of a problem.

Manufacturers don't introduce

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3+ million consoles in ~2 months = not too bad. A couple more months to get the approximately same amount out (maybe a little less) sounds like a good bet.

Bazillions sold

If PS3 has showed us a lesson, is that we need a new metric for "x millions sold" with game consoles, that is, "x millions sold minus y millions returned after being unable to sell them at ebay for a premium price".

No, seriously, most PS3 were bought for reselling, while most wii's are bought for playing. And it, for me, it's a pretty big difference.

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Re:Bazillions sold

No, seriously, most PS3 were bought for reselling, while most wii's are bought for playing. And it, for me, it's a pretty big difference.

And I'm sure you have some sort of data or source to back up this claim. A cursory search on eBay or a news story about the launch line at a particular Best Buy doesn't really qualify. I'm only calling you out, because I hear this line repeated fairly often with pretty much no evidence to support such an assertion. It seems fairly intuitive that more PS3s are sold on eBay than Wiis, but that doesn't necessarily translate to most.

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I don't know whether what he says is true or not, but I wouldn't be too surprised if on the initial shipments there were far more people waiting in line with the intention of selling the PS3 for huge profits. At launch everyone was anticipating that the PS

Re:Bazillions sold

I'm not sure I agree with the GP -- however, as partial support for his claim, I believe that at least in Japan, the tie ratio (number of games sold / number of consoles sold) for the PS3 is less than one, which is pretty damning. I don't think that's true in the US, but I believe the ratio is still much worse than the Wii...

I share your skepticism that this means most are being bought to resell, but I think it does at least suggest a statistically significant chunk of them.

DS sells out in April

As for the next fiscal year, Nintendo expect to sell around 23 million DS Lites

I predict that most of those will be sold before June.

If you think the DS is hard to find now (apparently, it's hard to keep in stock, just like the Wii), just wait until April. April sees the release of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl. The Pokemon series has always been a huge seller for both the games and the Game Boy, but these DS games also include the functionality to use WiFi to battle and trade online. Battling and trading with friends has always been a staple of the game, but you'd have to physically find someone to battle/trade with first. Now you have the entire world to choose from.

I know that's when I'll be buying my DS. (Well, a bit earlier, to beat the rush.)

Re:DS sells out in April and June

6/01/07 The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass nuff said

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I'm not sure if you mean Japan, but Zelda is launching in North America around October of 2007.

Poor Sony

That makes their handheld killer, the loser.

And that makes their console, the loser.

All this from the company that entered this race pompously telling the world they were the top dog.

It wouldn't be utterly tragic for them if it weren't Nintendo that was ki

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Tiny compared to Sony yes, not tiny compared to Sonys game division.

People forget that Nintendo is a GAME COMPANY, while Microsoft and Sony have their hands in a much much bigger cookie jar.

The honest truth is, thats a lot of the reason why they are ge

The trick to it is

Try planning on driving 20 miles out of the city in order to catch one. Avoid the popular stores because the chance is slim there. Just do a little research and calling around instead of hoping to be at the right place at the right time.

Now, can anyone h

Get wireless Gamecube controllers instead

I'd strongly recommend getting the wireless Gamecube controllers instead of the Classic controllers. At least wireless Gamecube controllers can be used with Gamecube games and they work with all of the VC games. If you buy the Classic controller, okay, it connects to the bottom of the Wiimote, so that makes it wireless, but if you want to play any GC games you'll need to buy GC controllers anyway.

I play all of my VC games with wireless GC controllers after returning the unopened Classic controllers that I bought. Haven't regretted it for a second. And now that rechargeable batteries are dropping in price, there is no reason to get the Classic controller unless you simply want it for the sake of having it ... that whole Wii "continuity" thing, I suppose.

And I've not seen a place out of stock of wireless GC controllers while the CC area remains out of stock.

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I haven't used a Classic controller yet, but the dpad placement might make it worthwhile for me. I've always thought that the 'cube controller's dpad was a little uncomfortable, and after two hours of Toe Jam & Earl the thought is reinforced. Still,

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Maybe it's the lack of vision that makes the DS so popular--the fact that it isn't a wannabe jack-of-all-trades like the PSP

I don't see anything about the DS that could be classified as a "lack of vision" ... when it was released it was wildly different th

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I'm trying to figure out what point you are trying to make. What do you think Nintendo should have done differently with the DS? Who uses the chat app anyway? And who really cares about the 2 second health warning? These seem like trivial complaints.

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You demonstrated precisely my point, why did they waste time and resources developing a third class chat app that nobody will ever use?/blockquote You never went to a con have you. at the last 2 Otakons 6 chatrooms where filled at any one time of people t

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Maybe it's the lack of vision that makes the DS so popular

Lack of vision? So the Touch Generation and the Nintendogs/Animal Crossing/Brain Age games show lack of vision to you? As opposed to the "let's just port PS2 games to the PSP it'll work well enou

Re:Kind of makes you wish Nintendo had vision

if the DS were the one to utilize UMD, I submit that it wouldn't be the commercial flop it is.

It's not because of marketing, Sony is no slouch there, nor because there aren't people loyal to Sony's platform. Sony's product simply makes it difficult to be loyal. Why do people want to re-buy their DVDs in a low res medium they can only play on the handheld, with no TV output, especially when Sony wants people to buy movies again in the high def Blu-Ray now? If the DS utilized UMD, I doubt it would be as small nor have the same battery life as the DS light. The media would be larger as well. Handhelds get carried around, sometimes on long trips, and these factors can be important. My wife and I used our DS systems on our last trip to Japan and had no worries about battery life on either ~11 hour flight - nor the extra connecting flights in Narita. No problems fitting both DS systems and all our games in carry-on luggage.

We picked up a bit of software for the DS in Japan as well, including DQM:Joker, a Japanese dictionary application for myself that uses the stylus to recognize input Japanese characters, and an English TOEIC training game for my wife. We also left a game from the US for my brother-in-law's kids. The lack of region coding (this even extends to the AC adapters between the US and Japan, both unlike the Wii unfortunately) in the DS systems makes it ideal for our usage. Not sure about the PSP, perhaps it also has no region encoding, but it felt good to not have to worry about regions.