You may not have given it much thought up until now, but Nintendo’s success with the Wii has been a blessing to all sorts of people you wouldn’t normally associate with the videogame industry. If you recall earlier, the Wii has been used as everything from a stroke rehabilitation device, to afitnessproduct. Fans have even found a way to use the Wiimote to measure vehicleacceleration. Given enough time, who knows what people will think of next? One thing that may have escaped your notice is the dramatic effect the Wii has had on the acceleration sensor industry.
Since 2006, global sales of accelerometer sensors have tripled in size. Two companies in particular: Analog Devices and STMicroelectonics have reaped the benefits of the Wii’s motion-sensing technology. Why? Because they manufacture the key parts that make the magic of the Wiimote and nunchuck possible. Analog Devices has already dedicated an entire production facility to making nothing but remote sensors for the Wii, and STMicroelectronics shouldn’t be far behind.
Now be a good lad and hit the jump for more on this, as well as Gameboi infested opinions (you probably don’t agree with) on the matter.
However, these guys aren’t the only ones who have profited from the Wii’s march to the top. It looks like Mitsumi Electric isn’t doing so bad either. Supplying the Wii with power chips and Wi-Fi components have done wonders to their operating profits — to the tune of a fivefold gain.
For a console with specs that made many people question its existance in the first place, the Wii sure is making everyone under its umbrella a lot of money. It just goes to further prove that “keeping up with the Jones’s” isn’t always what it’s cracked up to be. While the Wii doesn’t have the snazzy graphics of the Xbox 360 or the PS3, it certainly has good reliability and the support of a whole lot of people.
Not bad for being the cheapest guy on the market. The gaming media has been full of negative stories surrounding the competition since the newest generation of consoles hit store shelves. Nintendo on the other hand, seems to be making a lot of folks happy. Now that’s something to think about, if I do say so myself. Did you miss my opinion on this? Read between the lines, and you shall find that in which you seek.
