Andre Yoskowitz
26 Nov 2012 21:57
Nintendo had a great week.
For its first week of availability, there were 400,000 new Wii U consoles sold, a solid debut. Additionally, the company sold 800,000 other devices during the week, including Wii, 3DS and DS handhelds.
Perhaps more impressively, the Wii sold 300,000 units despite being launched 6 years ago. 250,000 3DS and 275,000 DS handhelds were sold, mainly thanks to large Black Friday deals.
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime says the Wii U would have had larger sales but the company was capped by supply: "Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock. Retailers are also doing their best to get the product to store shelves. But as soon as product hits retail, they're selling out immediately."
The exec says the company learned from its mistakes with the Wii (in regards to supply/retail), and is diligently stocking retailers this holiday season: "Wii was a unique phenomenon. You couldn't walk into a retailer and buy a Wii until spring of 2009. We've certainly learned many lessons from that and we are replenishing retailers more quickly this time around. We are looking to have as much product into retail as possible. It's driven by consumer response."