Introduction
Over the last 25 years the video game industry has grown rapidly, becoming a significant player in the media landscape, rivalling that of television. The industry is dominated by three key players, Sony, Microsoft and of course Nintendo, which will be centred on. The core strategy behind these global giants revolves around the same key idea, that money is to be made in software as development and manufacturing costs keep the consoles break-even sales price from most consumer price points (Williams, 2002). However the approach taken by Nintendo varies considerably from its two main rivals.
Nintendo Co. launched its first video gaming system in 1983 and has since sold over 4.2 billion games worldwide, over 669 million of which
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However the company has also launched a number of dud products during the late 1990s/early 2000s as well as in recent years.
Today the company sees itself in a difficult position, lagging behind competitors and trying to keep up in a changing marketplace. While Nintendo is still the market leader, market share is dwindling, falling a sizable 10% in a matter of four years (Euromonitor, 2014). It has been a number of years since Nintendo has created a successful innovative product and the company is beginning to feel the effect. If Nintendo doesn’t do something soon to change this, the future is bleak for this gaming company.
The total market share of the three leaders has dropped suggesting the growth of software companies, particularly those creating mobile gaming apps. However Microsoft has managed to increase their market share by 3% in the same time period, due to their positioning strategy.
Market Share in Global Video Gaming Industry. (Euromonitor, 2014) The above figures depict the industry’s’ standing one year ago, and are likely to have since changed, not working in Nintendo’s favour. At this time Nintendo had released its Wii U, launched almost a year before the PS4 and Xbox One, and should have been enjoying its success. However the console failed to gain momentum at the beginning, and ultimately botched, 2013 year ended with the Wii U selling only 2.8 million consoles. The Xbox One and PlayStation 4
As sales of Nintendo’s Wii and DS dominate the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and PlayStation Portable, respectively, the pressure continues to mount on Sony and Microsoft to move to the next level in the ongoing console wars. Sales of the Wii in 2008
Innovation is said to be one of the essential aspects in an organization due to the fact that it is key in bringing growth opportunities. Innovation as a whole entails the usage of new knowledge in the transformation of organizational process or the creation of commercially viable products as well as services. Nintendo Company has been on the forefront in terms of promoting innovation in the company and this has played a huge role in making the company be highly competitive in the market. The organization’s innovational team ensures that the products that it brings into the market are of great standards and out of reach from other company’s technological aspect in regards to the products that are produced. The source of the company’s knowledge in relations to innovation includes the latest technology, creative
Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have been competing for a decade with Sony dominating the market throughout most of the years because of their superior technological products. The video games industry faces an entirely new rivalry situation. In 2008, Sony lost its strong position on the market, because of Nintendo’s success with their dynamic Wii over Sony’s high-tech PlayStation 3 and Windows’ Xbox 360. Although the Wii was technologically much less advanced than PS3 and Xbox 360, the Wii's cheaper price, ease of use, innovative motion-sensitive controller, and simple but fun games, made the console a hit all demographics from 9 to 65 years old, male and female. All these factors resulted in Nintendo’s Wii dominating sales and surpassing Sony’s by an impressive ratio of 2:1.
Nintendo however is not present in this new market and therefore it is very important to take in consideration to enter this new area because at the moment the company does not have products that satisfy those new needs resulting in the loose of sales and consequently revenues.
Overall, the market response to these three consoles has been surprising. Nintendo Wii, has outsold its rivals and more surprisingly, Sony’s PS2 has outsold PS3. This has let Microsoft and Sony with the enormous challenge of competing with a rival possessing two key advantages: a lower cost console and a product with a sound response in the market.
It is notable (From Exhibit 2b in the Responding to Wii case – Harvard Business Review) that Nintendo has been successful in keeping positive operating profits despite being a weak competitor during the previous 2 generations. Nintendo has shown prudence in waiting out 2 battles and coming up with a unique offering which has changed the way the market perceives gaming. Sony should concede defeat this generation of gaming, while maintaining balance through strong service to existing market.
The fifth and final force is that of the intensity of rivalry. This is the strongest force in the video game industry. Nintendo was very strategic in targeting an audience that Microsoft and Sony neglected. While Microsoft and Sony focused on the typical gamers, males ages 18-34, Nintendo focused on a broader audience “everyone” when creating their Wii. In the video game industry rivalry Microsoft and Sony are battling for the same market, while Nintendo has much of its audience all to itself. This is why
Nintendo take the actions it did? How did these affect the value created by the industry?
Nintendo Company, Ltd is based in Kyoto Japan. They are recognized as being the "worldwide leader in the creation of interactive entertainment" (Nintendo, 2002, PG). Some of the world's best selling video gaming has come from the Nintendo Company, including Game Boy and Nintendo 64. In America Nintendo is based in Redmond, Washington. It is interesting to note that in American households nearly 40% have a Nintendo product.
Nintendo Entertainment System Description: The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit home video game console that was developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was initially released in Japan as the Family Computer on July 15, 1983, and was later released in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986, and Australia in 1987. In South Korea, it was known as the Hyundai Comboy and was distributed by SK Hynix which then was known as Hyundai Electronics. The best-selling gaming console of its time, the NES helped revitalize the US video game industry following the video game crash of 1983.
Let's compare the Wii U to Nintendo's previous console the Wii. The Wii was created in 2006 and per Nintendo's statistics has sold over 100 million units. The Wii U has sold only 10.7 million copies, the difference
Nintendo Co., Ltd. is a Japanese multinational consumer electronics company that is renowned worldwide for its popular home video games, and is the world’s largest. Nintendo originally produced card games and having founded in 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, a Japanese entrepreneur. Currently, Nintendo’s primary business is video games. Nintendo’s gained popularity during the 1980’s upon the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System here in the United States and its Japanese counterpart named Famicom. Nintendo sold over 60 million units of NES and took home games such as Mario and Zelda.
"Work hard, but in the end it's in heaven's hands." This is a quote from Game Over about the meaning of the word "Nintendo." In the video-gaming market, though, it was really in consumers' hands. Nintendo has always needed to adapt to survive in the market. Nintendo always needed to be on top; it was a company that needed to be ahead of the rest. Nintendo had to set new standards, or improve on an existing product or idea.
Video games are an ever-growing franchise that is constantly undergoing change. Ever since the dawn of video games, new consoles, games, developers, and teams have come together, fallen apart, triumphed, and failed. What is it that has allowed some to thrive where others failed? Several different factors have changed and influenced the world of gaming, including the history that is continuously being written, the people who have built the games behind the scenes, and, of course, the actual video games themselves. Numerous video games have been more successful than others, but identifying what components set the successful apart from the unsuccessful is something definitely worth observing.
The Wii was a huge success because it was different and family friendly and the Wii U was a fail because it wasn’t new or innovative. Nintendo has had the Wii branding for almost 11 years and because of that, they were not selling as many systems as they’d hoped. Then, they made a change. The dull gray and white color scheme of the Wii was replaced by a sharp red and white color scheme, along with a crisp new logo. This change has appealed to teens and adults, making the popularity of the Nintendo Switch skyrocket! This is a new Nintendo for loyal fans and it will positively affect the newer generations of Nintendo