Nintendo's North America Wii U launch was a smashing success as the company managed to move 400,000 units in its first week. This was revealed by Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime in a CNET phone interview, where he not only divulged the Wii U's sales, but all of the hardware sales they managed to move last week.
In addition to the 400,000 Wii U units sold last week, Nintendo also managed to sell over 300,000 units of the original Wii in the same timespan. Regarding its portables, the publisher managed to move over 250,000 3DS' and a healthy 275,000 of the original DS. According Fils-Aime, the portables garnerd such sales due to "significant deals" being offered by various retailers on Black Friday.
To tally it up, Nintendo managed to move over 1.2 million pieces of hardware in just one week. However, the big news here is still the Wii U, which Fils-Aime states that "as soon as product hits retail, they're selling out immediately."
Wii U is essentially sold out of retail and we are doing our best to continually replenish stock…Retailers are also doing their best to get the product to store shelves. But as soon as product hits retail, they're selling out immediately.
Of course, shortages are nothing new to Nintendo, as the original Wii experienced massive shortages when it was released. According to Fils-Aime, they've "learned" from that experience this time around and they are looking to have as much product into retail as possible.
Sadly, that doesn't help the droves of people still looking for a Wii U. I suggest waiting until 2013 to make sure you get one without being gouged by auctioneers.
Have you gotten a Wii U yet? Is it even possible to get one now in your area?
