Nintendo is targeting 35 million Wii console sales in the U.S. by 2012. According to an interview with George Harrison (no relation to the Beatles George Harrison), Marketing Chief at Nintendo of America Inc., Nintendo is increasing Wii production at factories in China to meet the demand. Harrison said, "Demand is much greater than we anticipated. A year ago no one thought we would be in this position." Since its launch last November, Nintendo sold over 2.5 million Wii units. In addition, 34 new Wii titles will be released by the end of this year.
Analysts are optimistic about the planned target. Etsuko Tamura, an analyst for Mizuho Investors Securities Co. in Tokyo, said, "The 35 million target is a bit too optimistic for now as it seems the Wii is targeting light gamers, but the U.S. market has a lot of hard-core game players. It’s too early to decide whether the Wii will be the winner among game consoles."
Wii fanatics are everywhere and last month, Nintendo nabbed the first four spots for the best video game sales along with the first two spots for the best console sales. The Wii sold 360,000 units last month, which is well over the trailing Xbox 360, with only 174,000 sold and the PS3, with only 82,000 sold last month.
[Via Bloomberg]
