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Factory Fire in Japan May Impact Wii U Shipping Numbers

By Brian P Rubin | 10 October 2012 | 4 Comments   

wii u fire

A post on CVG today reports that a fire broke out in a Wii U assembly factory in Japan, and an analyst believes that it could negatively impact Nintendo’s ability to meet customer demand next month. David Gibson, a Tokyo-based analyst for the Australian bank Macquarie, Tweeted his revised forecast of the Wii U’s projected shipping numbers:

However, CVG quotes a statement issued to them by Nintendo, which said, “As of now, we see no impacts on our Wii U console production scheme.”

It’s entirely possible that Nintendo wouldn’t want to alarm investors who are relying on the Wii U’s launch next month to bring the company’s fortunes back to their formerly lofty perch. For the last several years, Nintendo had dominated the console market, with the Wii managing to capture the casual gaming market. The Wii console was an inexpensive system that allowed the company to reap lots of profit for quite a while—but their fortunes reversed last year due to poor exchange rates, a severe cool-down in Wii sales, and an initially under-performing 3DS system launch. The company posted its first loss in decades last year.

This year, though, the trend has started to reverse. Sales of the 3DS jumped with the system’s mid-year price cut, and after the initial loss of profit that created, the company managed to expand its install base and sell plenty of software. The fact that the Wii U has managed to sell out in pre-order just about everywhere was definitely a good sign that the company would be profitable again, making 2011’s financial tumble a mere blip in the grand scheme of things. While I’m sure even a million fewer units wouldn’t impact the company too terribly in the long run, it’s a sensitive time for Nintendo, and they need to avoid any setbacks until after the system’s launch—perceived or actual.

Let’s watch and see what they say on October 24. For my part, I better get my damn system. Or else I’mma be real mad.

Via CVG

4 Comments

  1. Posted by Adrian on 10 October 12 at 9:25am

    3DS XL, currently actually looks alot more favorable than PS Vita so i expect 3DS/XL sales to go up this holiday season, sure PS Vita is is nice eye candy with whistles, and big red buttons you want to push, but cutting out PSP’s UMD support even as a external plug option, and forcing people that own PSP and have physical copies to rebuy in digital format for full price is a crime, not to mention their library of availability is good for 3-7 games at best.

    Nintendo did one thing right with 3DS, support on DS games. And i be one of people adding to 3DS XL sales this holiday, due to support of last gen games.

    Nintendo will be fine with Wii U + future as long as they got a good old plumber brothers around.

  2. Posted by Landon Robinson on 10 October 12 at 9:51am

    You’re right, mine probably caught fire.

  3. Posted by Mugenite on 10 October 12 at 6:53pm

    MS: “Do you think they suspect?”
    Sont: “Naa… Let them think it was an accident.”
    MS: “Mmmnnnyyesss….. ‘accident.’ Mwahahahahah!!

  4. Posted by Jake on 13 October 12 at 9:53am

    3DSXL looks hot, I was in Gamestop the other day for the first time in a long time and found myself playing Super Mario 3D World or whatever it’s called and then looking at the 3DSXL. It’s a really nice piece of hardware and has a nice price, I’m not sure if I’d buy enough games to justify the purchase though.

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