Nintendo pleased with booming Wii U pre-orders

Not concerned about iPhone 5 and Kindle releases

Chris KempSeptember 15, 2012

In the wake of Nintendo’s official release date announcement for the Wii U, retailers have started taking pre-orders. And according to Nintendo of America president Reggis Fils-Aime, those preorders are going really well.

“We have a number of retailers taking pre-orders and the feedback that I’m getting from retailers is extremely strong in terms of pre-sales and consumer excitement at the store,” he said.

“In the end, I care about those people. I care about the consumer who’s putting money down on a pre-order and whether or not we’re presenting a great value to them. Based on some of the reports I’m getting, the answer is yes.”

Fils-Aime also commented on the release of the iPhone 5 and the new Kindle, saying he’s not concerned about either as a threat to sales of the Wii U.

“I’m not concerned about it because that’s our responsibility,” he said. “That’s what Nintendo of America has to do, as a sales, marketing and distribution company. We have to own that top of mind awareness with consumers and get them to say, ‘Yes, I need to spend my hard earned money on this machine and on its games.’ I’m confident we’re going to get that job done.”

Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter thinks frugal consumers may want to hold off a bit on purchasing their Wii U, saying in a research note that he believes Nintendo will be cutting the price in the first year.

“We think that Wii U’s price points are appropriate given likely demand from Nintendo’s core fanbase, but believe that pricing will be too high to sustain demand given current competition from other consoles and tablets.”