Survey Says that 10% of Japan Will Buy A PS Vita and a Wii U. Vita Percentage Down from July.

Survey Says that 10% of Japan Will Buy A PS Vita and a Wii U. Vita Percentage Down from July.

Giuseppe Nelva November 8, 2011 3:00 PM EST

The Japanese survey firm Goo Research released the results of a survey conducted between October the 17th and October 19th on a sample of 1.083 of its members. The focus group was polled via an online questionnaire and mobile phones.

The survey inquired on the interest between the respondents in buying a PS Vita or a Wii U.

The Demographics of the poll were as follows: 53.3% are male, 16.3% are teenagers, 18.2% in their twenties, 21.9% in their tirties, 16.3% in their forties and 23.3% are fifty years old or older. 694 of the respondents already own a game console: of those 62.2% own a portable of the DS family (including the 3DS), 53.0% have a PlayStation 2, 51.7% own a Wii, 34.3% own a PSP, and 27.8% have a PS3.

The first question was: Do you want to purchase a PS Vita, that will be released on December the 17th, 2011?

The answers were:

I want to purchase one: 10.2%

I don’t plan to purchase one, but I’m interested in it: 35.2%

I’m not interested in it: 54.6%

The second question was: Do you want to purchase a Wii U, that will be released on December the 17th, 2011?

The answers were:

I want to purchase one: 9.4%

I don’t plan to purchase one, but I’m interested in it: 36.1%

I’m not interested in it: 54.5%

It’s quite interesting to compare the results of this poll with those of a very similar one conducted in July. The percentage of those that want to buy a PS Vita went down by a rather large 5.5% and those that won’t buy it immediately but are still interested decreased by a 2.4%.

That’s a quite large drop, and unexpected, considering that the launch line-up (that wasn’t known in July) is very strong and due to get even stronger during the first few months of the console’s lifetime. Maybe the lack of any announcement about a Monster Hunter game on the new portable by Sony influenced the potential buyers negatively. The situation of the economy in Japan also isn’t that great at the moment.

The percentages for the Wii U decreased by a much smaller amount, with a 0.2% drop in potential buyers and a 3.3% decrease between those interested.

It’s difficult to say how this drop in statistical popularity will affect initial sales of the PS Vita, especially considering that the polled sample wasn’t very large (while sizable). It could simply be a statistical aberration, as the poll results don’t state that the focus group includes exactly the same respondents as the previous one (just the same numbers), but it seems unlikely given that the answers to other questions are very similar.

What do you think caused this result? Personally I feel that, if Capcom announced a Monster Hunter game for the PS Vita, that 10% would shoot up to 20.