Nintendo Wii U's Poor Sales an Act of God, According to Company
Nintendo's struggles with the Wii U are nearing possible failure of the system, and after many attempts to try and bring it back, the creators feel that perhaps it was an act of God that slowed the company down.
"We launched the Nintendo 3DS on February 2011 and sales were strong," Nintendo said recently in a statement. "Two weeks later we were hit by the Great East Japan Earthquake and that stopped the momentum. In August of the same year we lowered the price from the initial 25,000 Yen to 15,000 Yen, and enhanced software development at the same time, to enrich the game line-up."
"That paid off and we regained momentum in Japan, but due to that we could not spare many developers for the Wii U (released in November 2012), and that led to the slow start of the console," they continued.
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Estimates as to the cost of damage in Japan may be over US$300 billion, according to Forbes. It is this blow to Japanese infrastructure that new tech and ideas from Japan may not have the initial push they once have. The nation is still recovering.
Wii U only sold 160,000 units between April and June-- a number that is less than half the amount of the previous quarter.
Altogether the console has sold 3.61 million systems since November, netting them a profit of $88 million, reported Joystiq.
At this time last year Nintendo was reporting loses of $174 million, so despite the lack of sales, they are still taking positive steps.
Joystiq reported that the extra income is coming from the exchange rates between Yen and U.S. dollars and the huge success of the hand held 3DS.
Nintendo feels its struggles are their own fault, citing they have not been able to appease fans with more first party titles. However, they are working to rectify that will upcoming releases.
"Nintendo strives to improve the sales by communicating the compelling nature of our hardware and software to as many people as possible through our new network service called 'Miiverse,' which offers an environment where people can empathize with others and share their gaming experiences," the company said in a statement. "We also strive to improve hardware profitability by reducing its costs."
Their comeback plans are being squashed a bit by large U.K. chain Asda. The store will not be stocking any Wii U's, and carry only limited games for the system on a case by case basis.
