Dave Horvath
1 Dec 2006 19:06
In a totally unorthodox move in the video game market, console underdog Nintendo introduced it's Wii to Japanese consumers almost two weeks after it's successful American launch. The famous electronics store, Yodobashi Camera in the Machida district in Tokyo opened at 7:30am, 2.5 hours earlier than normal in anticipation of the Nintendo launch. By 8am they had already posted signs saying they were sold out for the day.
Some eager consumers said they had been waiting in line since 6:30am the earlier day. Although this length of time waiting for a product launch pales in comparison to how long US comsumers were waiting in line for Nintendo's competitor, the Sony PS3.
Nintendo shipped 400,000 units to Japan which quickly sold out everywhere. This is in contrast to the 600,000 units sent to the United States which were said to be all accounted for in eight days. Nintendo remains hopeful that it will meet it's goal of reaching 4 million by the end of this year.
Instead of going head-to-head with the technical marvel of rival companies Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo decided to go for a fun-for-all approach. After taking a back seat to Sony with the introduction of the Playstation in 1994, Nintendo executives began looking at the 20 billion dollar video game market a bit differently. They look to achieve a healthy market share with their innovative controller and unique gameplay.
Source:
Bloomberg