The last Thanksgiving weekend was the biggest sales day ever in the history of Nintendo America. Between the 18th and 24th of November, approximately 653,000 Nintendo DS’s flew off the shelves of American retailers. Additionally, Nintendo estimates that more than 350,000 new Wii consoles were sold in the same time span.
It’s been clear for a long time that Nintendo has been on a roll; the introduction of the company’s new Wii console was a giant step forward for the video game manufacturer. But even considering the recent success of Nintendo in retail sales, the Thanksgiving week figures are beyond what anyone could have predicted.
For example, the Nintendo DS set an all-time sales record this Thanksgiving, surpassing its previous high mark of just over 600,000 units sold. This last high point for the DS took place during Thanksgiving weekend of 2005.
The Wii has now reached sales of over 5 million units in the United States, and achieved this feat in less time than any rival video game console or system ever produced. Even more remarkably, the Wii reached sales topping the 5 million mark in just shy of 12 months from its initial release.
But everyone is not a happy about the recent Nintendo sales juggernaut. Of course, the Wii’s tremendous popularity has cut into the profit margin of their largest competitors: Microsoft and Sony. But it is not only this loss of revenue that has some competitors complaining.
Rumors have been circulating for some time that Nintendo has been “managing supply” in order to generate an artificially inflated demand for the Wii. Industry insiders have wondered if it is even possible for a video game system to sell more than 5 million units within a year’s time — it certainly has never happened before, even with the uber-popular Sony PlayStation, or the Microsoft Xbox, whose sales figures pale in comparison to the Wii’s recent all-out attack on the market.
But Nintendo dismisses allegations of “managing supply” or other unscrupulous methods to artificially generate demand for though Wii. In response to the rumors, Nintendo President Reggie Filsaime was quoted by PC World.com as saying, “A shortage benefits no one… we didn’t accurately estimate demand.”
But no matter how Nintendo is achieving the current tremendous demand for the Wii, one thing is for certain: we can expect to see a lot more of these units sold throughout the holiday season. And more than likely, demand for the Wii will continue to outpace the available supply of the units through January of 2008 and perhaps even into the spring.
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