http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=11337
Game over for the Nintendo Gamecube?
Only 80,000 units sold in Q
By INQUIRER staff: Tuesday 02 September 2003, 16:24
WE REPORTED LAST week that Nintendo has stopped production of its Gamecube video console for a while.
But now a report from market research firm iSuppli suggests that its lack of online capability spells out its doom in big red letters.
According to principal analyst Jay Shrivatsa, Nintendo only sold 80,000 units of the Gamecube in the financial quarter ending in June 2003. It managed to sell 3.24 million Game Boy Advance systems during the same period, however.
Shrivatsa describes this Gamecube figure as "startlingly meagre", but Nintendo still claims it will sell six million Gamecubes by March 2004.
That's an unrealistic figure, said Shrivatsa. The only chance the Gamecube has got is if Nintendo beats Sony and Microsoft to the market with a nextgen box.
Nintendo is working on one already, but Suppli thinks that without online gamers and a nextgen system it might all happen too late.
Sony is estimated to only sell 20 mill units of the PlayStation 2 this year, but Microsoft's online gaming means that Xbox sales have risen to 9.4 million units since November 2001.
Poor console sales will affect third party firms such as ATI, Nvidia, and Big Blue, said Shrivatsa. µ
http://www.isuppli.com/index.asp
Game over for the Nintendo Gamecube?
Only 80,000 units sold in Q
By INQUIRER staff: Tuesday 02 September 2003, 16:24
WE REPORTED LAST week that Nintendo has stopped production of its Gamecube video console for a while.
But now a report from market research firm iSuppli suggests that its lack of online capability spells out its doom in big red letters.
According to principal analyst Jay Shrivatsa, Nintendo only sold 80,000 units of the Gamecube in the financial quarter ending in June 2003. It managed to sell 3.24 million Game Boy Advance systems during the same period, however.
Shrivatsa describes this Gamecube figure as "startlingly meagre", but Nintendo still claims it will sell six million Gamecubes by March 2004.
That's an unrealistic figure, said Shrivatsa. The only chance the Gamecube has got is if Nintendo beats Sony and Microsoft to the market with a nextgen box.
Nintendo is working on one already, but Suppli thinks that without online gamers and a nextgen system it might all happen too late.
Sony is estimated to only sell 20 mill units of the PlayStation 2 this year, but Microsoft's online gaming means that Xbox sales have risen to 9.4 million units since November 2001.
Poor console sales will affect third party firms such as ATI, Nvidia, and Big Blue, said Shrivatsa. µ
http://www.isuppli.com/index.asp