Nintendo Co, the world's largest maker of handheld game players, said it expects to sell as many as 35 million Wii consoles in the US to approach the record 38.2 million PlayStation 2s sold by Sony Corp.
The company will reach its goal by 2011 or 2012, George Harrison, marketing chief at Nintendo of America Inc, a unit of Kyoto-based Nintendo, said in an interview from Seattle yesterday.
Nintendo is increasing Wii production at factories in China to meet demand, Harrison said.
Tokyo-based Sony said last week it will introduce 34 new games in the next year to spur sales of its latest PlayStation 3 console, which the Wii has outsold by about two to one.
Nintendo's stock rose 3.2 percent to ¥42,100 (US$346) at the 3pm close on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, while Sony shares declined 0.7 percent to ¥7,100. The benchmark Nikkei 225 Stock Average climbed 0.1 percent.
Sony earlier this week said it will start selling PS3 in South Korea on June 16 at 518,000 won (US$556) each. The version will be equipped with a 80-gigabyte hard disk drive.
Nintendo sold 2.5 million Wii players in the US since the console was introduced in November, making it the top seller among the newest generation of machines.
"Demand is much greater than we anticipated," Harrison said. "A year ago no one thought we would be in this position."
US consumers have purchased 1.3 million PlayStation 3s since it was introduced two days ahead of the Wii. Microsoft Corp sold 5.4 million Xbox 360s, released in 2005, according to market researcher NPD Group Inc, based in Port Washington, New York.
The older PlayStation 2 remains popular and outsold both the PS3 and Xbox 360 in last month. Consumers bought 194,000 PS2s during the month, according to NPD. That compares with 174,000 Xbox 360s and 82,000 PS3s. The Wii was No. 1 at 360,000 units.
Demand for the PS2, introduced in 2000, has been bolstered by price cuts and the popularity of games such as Activision Inc's Guitar Hero. The console sells for US$149.
Pricing also helped sell the Wii. At US$249, it costs less than half the price of a PlayStation 3 and is about US$50 less than the cheapest Xbox 360. Nintendo has no plans to sell the Wii for less, Harrison said.
Nintendo will continue to focus on titles that attract people who typically don't play video games. That means there is little reason for the company to upgrade the console with more powerful chips or better graphics, Harrison said.
"We're starting to see in the performance of the PS3 and Xbox 360 that [performance] not necessarily motivating the market the way it used to," he said.
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source