Nintendo appears to be weathering the credit crunch, without showing large declines in sales and, in fact, showing a strong economic position within its industry. Nintendo is actually exceeding expectations, especially compared to its competitors in vertical and parallel markets such as Sony and Panasonic, who are definitely feeling the effects of the global recession, cutting their prices to meet consumer demands.
Nintendo is really satisfied with the current market and industry conditions. While other retailers and wholesalers are in peril, Nintendo seems to have nothing to worry about as the gaming industry continues to rise, demand for its products increases along with the strength of the market. This can be directly reflected in its shares, which are up a massive 4% (12/9/2008).
The Wii, Nintendo’s popular portable innovation, has one of the biggest hits, creating a mass of revenue and unit sales of around 800,000 for the week ending November 29. The Nintendo DS saw similar sales figures, again, around the 800,000 mark. In reality, this means that the Wii and DS appear to be the hottest items for Christmas, outselling top-selling competing units like Xbox and PS3 in October.
Nintendo is increasing the supply of its products to meet demand, which means that 2.4 million units will have been produced and sold by the end of this month. And if all that doesn’t put them in one of the strongest positions on the market, they are one of the only brands to launch a new console this year, the DSi, which is obviously an upgrade from the original DS. The demand is not likely to be as high as the Nintendo Wii, but it should still create another source of income for the company.
