As it turns out, Nintendo is apparently a pretty modest company when it comes to what they are selling. Statements have recently come out from Nintendo themselves that state that the DS has reached its peak; gravity will now take over and pull it down the mountain of money.
Nintendo states that the DS has been an astounding success. Indeed, it will still continue to be a success in the future. However, according to Nintendo, this popularity is the DS’s downfall. Over time, anyone who has wanted a DS has bought one. It’s a bit like selling a huge tray of brownies in a room filled with ten people. After a while, everyone has had their share, and you can’t really sell anymore.
Even though 9.5 million more DS’s were sold in the US and Europe in FY07-08 than FY06-07, this decline, Nintendo points out, can be seen in Japan, where sales have gone from 9.1 million units sold to approximately 6.4 units sold. This huge decrease, especially in Japan where the Nintendo DS is a very popular handheld is more than telling of the DS’s future, according to Nintendo.
Nintendo predicts that 28 million DS’s will be sold world wide in FY08-09. In terms of games, this year 50% more are being sold than last year. However, sales are only expected to rise .7% in FY08-09, meaning that a lot less games will be bought for every one of those 28 million DS’s. If one believes all that Nintendo says to the letter, it can be assumed that the DS may be stamped out completely by 2011.
Still, one has to take into account Nintendo’s habit of creating long lasting consoles that lived well beyond their life expectancy. The future is always uncertain when it comes to predicting sales. It is very probable that the DS becomes one of Nintendo’s long lasting legends.
Now, if only Nintendo would produce games for it other than WarioWare, Nintendogs, and Brain Training. Maybe that will boost sales.
[Via Pocket Gamer]
