Nintendo loses almost $21 for every Wii U sold

XMNR: Nintendo revealed how much money it was losing on each Wii U console sold with the release Wednesday of its 2012 third quarter financial report.

[DivineAssault]

smh that sucks.. so much invested for nothing.. The whole playing on screen tech was probably expensive.. Simple maps, inventory, & menu navigation wouldve been fine..

[showtimefolks]

Did we really need a gamepad controller? Couldn't the wiiu have spent that extra money on actually improving the tech?

All consoles loose money at launch, Nintendo said they make a profit off wiiu once someone buys a system with just one game. So for them to make a profit all they need if for someone to buy one game with purchase of the system

I hope both Sony and ms go the conventional way of the controller we don't need a gamepad to enjoy the games we been enjoying with a regular controller for 20 years

[decrypt]

"Did we really need a gamepad controller? Couldn't the wiiu have spent that extra money on actually improving the tech? "

Nintendo knows..

Console gamers.. Dont care about graphics.

Newer tech is not required.

[showtimefolks]

Decrypt

It's not all about graphics, you see now unless Nintendo will be stuck in between ps3 and Xbox all the time. Because it came out in 2012 now next one shuld be out by 2017-2018 and than again Sony and ms will over shadow it

I know people don't want to hear it and the is nothing now that Nintendo can do but they should have released a wiiHD about 2 years ago on heals of wii success, that way you catch up to current systems and and have the people who bought wii buy the next one too because of the upgrade in specs

The message wiiu is delivering is very confusing, we the core gamers know what it is and the specs but average consumer sees the advertisement and is not getting the clear message

Now when ps4 and next Xbox will be on the shelfs at retailers don't you think both will over shadow the wiiu? And most consumers walking in will go for newer systems

I hope in the future Nintendo comes out at the same out with new systems as other 2.

On topic:

I know gamepad has its uses and you can do a lot but at the cost of having less than stellar specs I dont the pros of gamepads outweighs the cons but hats juts my personal opinion

Wiiu is projected to sell about 45-50 million systems while that's success for sure it's not compared to how well the original wii did. But than again wii sky rooted with motion controls

For Nintendo to be successful they need 3rd party support and as of right now most big games are not coming too wiiu in 2013. Nintendo has to do whatever it takes to change that.

[ABizzel1]

I truly can't believe this, unless they're include R&D, manufacturing cost, and shipping cost into the equation.

There's no way the console itself is costing them money even with the controller. An AMD A8 Llano PC can be built for $250 - $300 and that PC would stomp the Wii-U (should have went with an A8), and the controller itself did not cost more than $50 to make thanks to the poor battery, non HD screen, and having no processing capabilities whatsoever.

http://mynintendonews.com/2...

Now if you add in R&D, Manufacturing cost, and shipping cost then yes they may be losing a bit of money.

[Skips]

@decrypt

"Console gamers.. Dont care about graphics.

Newer tech is not required."

PC gamers.. Don't care about games, only graphics.

[miyamoto]

reminds me of the Dreamcast VMU controller

[Spookshow]

To be honest I'm a bit exceptical about regular people buying the newer PS or Xbox, the current consoles have a lot going on for them still. Other than hardocre gamers and fanboys, who's gonna spend a good deal of money on a new expensive system when the one you got is still giving you tons of awesome games?

[3-4-5]

They will make that back with every digital sale and every sale of :

* 3D Mario Wii U

* Mario Kart U

* Yoshi's Yarn

* Super Smash Brothers

along with the special edition sales from the limited edition models we might see with these games.

[PopRocks359]

So getting one game for it really does effectively make it profitable it seems. A Wii U plus, say, NSMBU would effectively make this thing profitable, assuming the math is factually correct.

[Jadedz]

Not as much as I thought though.

[wiiulee]

nintendo are posting profits from both wiiu and 3ds...so they are not spending 10 years in a console generation trying to get back into the plus side of things

[live2play]

dont say that!

here only
nintendo's loss will be remembered
sony's will be ignored

sonys profit will be boasted about
nintendos profit will be ignored

see CLEARELITE down there
somehow sonys loss of $300 can be turned into a GOOD THING to say about the company

nintendos loss of $21 is the worst thing to happen

pathetic realy

[insomnium2]

So you win by taking things out of context? and say other people are pathetic? Another hater...

I guess I'll be seeing you commenting heavily by the time the media starts to bash the next Sony console then. I'm pretty sure what you are going to "remember" by that time.

Sony took a big hit on every sold PS3 for the industry (and for themselves IN THE LONG RUN). Nintendo cares mainly about casuals so there is not a person on this site that is in their main target audience. What did you expect really?

Wii U is ok but the lack of hc ambition is not lost on this site. It needs more power instead of gimmicks.

[MikeMyers]

"Nintendo cares mainly about casuals so there is not a person on this site that is in their main target audience. "

Not true at all. There are many people who visit this site that are very happy with the Wii U.

http://forums.n4g.com/Wii-U...

[sdozzo]

Didn't MS and Sony both lose money on the hardware too? Comparable to this? Thought these guys made money on the software/online.

[clrlite]

Sony lost around $300 dollars per console at launch, which made the comments that it was expensive seem ridiculous.

Bluray was a big win for them though as you probably know and had a lot to do with the high manufacturing costs.

@disagree, a simple google search will verify what I said.

@statix below, haha I just disagreed with you by accident so i'll give you a bubble instead for well said, because you are correct. Also, some people bought PS3 for the awesome bluray player, so if it wasn't for their massive Victory with Bluray they wouldn't have made up so much of their money.

[Statix]

To be fair, $21 loss per unit is miniscule.

[Jobesy]

$21- * 4,000,000 = $84,000,000-

-$84,000,000 is not minuscule

@below,

Moot point, the argument was whether or not the loss/console was minuscule. Btw, doesn't that attach rate include the free game (s) that come with the console?

[PopRocks359]

Now multiply the 3+ game attachment rate.

[Good_Guy_Jamal]

Now try that with $300 and you'll see why PS3 is billions in the red still after 6 years in the market.

[Statix]

The fact is, relative to other consoles, and relative to the fact that money is made on software, a $21 dollar hit per unit sold is miniscule. Sell just one game, and they've already made that money back.

"Moot point, the argument was whether or not the loss/console was minuscule."

Lol, the word "miniscule" is a relative term. Obviously, $84 million isn't miniscule to an average Joe like you or me. Hell, $50 bucks isn't miniscule to an average Joe. However, it may be miniscule when referring to the gross income of a giant corporation. Therefore, your argument is moot.

[Qrphe]

Most consoles sell at a loss, no one should be concerned. Even the Gamecube was initially selling at around $25 loss.

Edit: For the record the PS2 was initially losing well over $200 on each console on launch (yes, they had TONS of doom articles too)

[B1663r]

And the PS2 was in fact doomed. They had to discontinue it because it was selling so poorly, and no one was supporting it anymore.

The same fate it certain to happen the the PS3.

[cee773]

@B1663r

wow you nintendo fanboys really are really crazy you guys actually believe the lies you spew on the internet (ps2 is the best selling game console of all time lol)

@wiiulee

you've gone full time ninty fanboy as well,
it was all I love my ps3 and my wii U. now its sony is doomed lol you spend more time trolling from your wii U than actually playing games on it lol

@pedroyamato

no nintendo console has had analog control until the gamecube was released (n64 stick is digital)

sony was the first with analog (dual at that)
as well as dual rumble(superior to the rumble pack in every way) built in non the less.

[CommonSenseGamer]

@cee:
Analog controllers were in use a loooong time before Sony started using them. As early as 1976 in fact.

[Statix]

Did this guy just seriously say that the PS2 was a "doomed console?" The most successful console in gaming history? I'm trying really hard to see the sarcasm in his comment.

[MultiConsoleGamer]

But they make it back when they sell just one game.

[pixelsword]

So, this is their first console sold at a loss, or what?

[Hicken]

Yeah, it is. Though it's hardly a loss, and since people are gonna buy at LEAST one game, that money is made back pretty quickly.

[Qrphe]

No it's not. The Gamecube was sold at a loss.

http://usatoday30.usatoday....

Although not on record, I bet the N64 was sold at a loss as well for its capabilities back in the day.

Edit: I've calculated and adjusted their expected loss and it actually came out to $55-$108 loss per console.

[strigoi814]

well at least they only sold 3 million units..so that make them loss about $63 million not bad..soo bad

[WooHooAlex]

a $21 loss is nothing for a new console launch. All they need is a 1/1 software attachment rate (minus Nintendo Land) and they're profitable.
I still would have liked if they ditched that expensive controller and invested that money into getting a faster cpu in that thing.

[BrianC6234]

Nintendo should have doubled the RAM of the Wii U if they're only losing $21 per console. Stop being so cheap. That 2GB of RAM is really going to hold the Wii U back in the future.

[Double_O_Revan]

Oh noes! $21! Compared to the $100+ loss Sony used to take on the PS3 at launch, that's nothing.

The only reason why it's a big deal is because Nintendo has never taken a loss on a console before.

[jmc8888]

They're making money on it.

Did people not see that 65 percent of people are buying NSBMU? That right there puts them well into the green.

Even if they sold 0 NSMBU say if it didn't exist, we all know that Nintendo, like Sony and MS get $10 for every disc sold on their system.

Thus, all they need is for 2 games to be sold per device to breakeven (-$1).

So when you consider NSMBU and all the other games, they are easily turning a profit.

Barring hyperinflation (a real possibility that will affect everyone), then the price of the gamepad will go down.

As azshorty2003 said above, you're right Sony lost about $270 for every console sold for a couple years roughly.

PS4/720 aren't going to be much better. 2x better? 3x maybe? That's about it. In other words, not that much.

If you want to know how easy it is to suck up that much power, turn up settings on PC games. Notice how fast it'll cut your FPS? (and if you have a good rig like a GTX 670 just use Afterburner or something to downclock your card).

PS4/720 are going to be lower mid range 2010-2011 PC's. An i7 920 from 2008 will throttle it, meanwhile the graphics card is basically a GTX 560ti capable of running Battlefield 3 on medium settings (though probably a bit higher since it will be that power in a console, so high settings [not very high or ultra]).

As an owner of a PC, Wii U, PS3, 360, and will buy 720 and PS4 (and as a gamer since Apple II and Atari 2600), the PS4 and 720 simply aren't going to be that powerful. Fun, just like a Wii U is fun. Technologically advanced? Not really. They too will have their expensive add-ins. Or at least the 360 will. Less is known about if PS4 will package move or something else with their system.

Wii U is cheaper, has the gamepad, and will hold its own against the PS4/720, which not only will be more expensive, but will probably also have to compete against a Wii U with a price drop.

If people think they're going to be playing games on next gen consoles that look like the Samaritan Demo or Watch Dogs, just realize a 560ti isn't three 580's. That's how much weaker the PS4/720 will be compared to what those demos ran.

All the consoles will be good fun but none of them are going to be powerful. 1.2 TFlops is nothing. Not when PC's can ALREADY push 11.2 with a two GTX 690's. Expect that to be over 15 with the GTX 7 series codename Maxwell BEFORE the PS4/720 come out.

As you can see Wii U and PS4/720 are going to be in the same ballpark, capable of running virtually all the same games that aren't exclusives.

Devs will skip making games for PS4/720 as well because just like the Wii U some devs can't make games for consoles with only a few million units sold. Just like what occurred when games from some devs only came out on PS2/Xbox even though the PS3/360 were already out.

Oh and we are living in an ever deepening depression where the idiots in Washington DC, London, Brussels, Beijing, Berlin, etc have done nothing but make the situation worse by purposefully not addressing the Glass-Steagall issue.