Nintendo Wii Case Study

Nintendo Wii Case Study

Jared G. Sanders

BUSN412 Business Policy

March 18, 2012

NINTENDO, INC.

WWW.NINTENDO.COM

NINTENDO ENTERTAINMENT SYSTEMS

BACKGROUND /HISTORY/ COMPANY TIMELINE:

Nintendo is a Japanese company that has been a major competitor in the videogame industry since the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985. In recent decades, Nintendo has developed several successful consoles that allowed it to compete with rival firms and experience great success. In 2001, however, Nintendo released Gamecube, which turned out to be a flop. It was unable to compete with Microsoft’s XBOX or Sony’s Playstation 2. Because of this, it looked as though Nintendo was down and out of the videogame business. Nintendo was forced to change its approach to videogames and, in doing so, it completely revolutionized the videogame industry. In 2006, Nintendo introduced the Wii. The Wii is an innovative new system that takes advantage of new technologies and targets consumers of all ages. The Wii has allowed Nintendo to not only compete with Sony and Microsoft, but to experience the incredible success it remembers from its earlier days.

SWOT ANALYSIS:

Strengths:

• Nintendo is the originator of video games and has a strong reputation. Seven of the top ten selling titles were for Nintendo systems

• An interactive system such as the Wii is appealing to all types of people. Some examples are families, non- gamers, grandparents, etc.

Weaknesses

• Component suppliers cannot keep up with production requirements in order to satisfy Wii demand

• Property damage and sports injury can be caused by the controller flying out of the users hands

Opportunities

• Targets the broader audience – children, parents, senior citizens(everyone) and is simpler than other game consoles

• The use of viral marketing efforts to key community influencers in major US cities is a good way for Nintendo to expand beyond its traditional target market

Threats

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