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Nintendo boss explains Wii and DS shortages

18 February 2007 16:05 by James "Dela" Delahunty | 12 comments

Nintendo of America President, Reggie Fils-Aime, spoke in an interview at last week, explaining and apologizing for the shortages of Wii and DS Lite consoles. "We apologize that it continues to be a difficult problem to get your hands on [a Wii]," he said. "The fact is, we manufactured 4 million Wii consoles by the end of the calendar year."

He continued: "Our challenge was getting them not only into our warehouses and then into warehouses of our retailers, but there is some handling of the consoles in terms of putting the "Wii Sports" disc in. That whole inventory chain is what prevented us from selling all 4 million that had been produced."

He revealed that production for the Wii is at 1 million units per month and another ramp up will be coming soon. Shortages of new consoles are expected for some months after the initial launch, but the Nintendo DS Lite handheld console has also been in short supply despite being on the market for a much longer time.

"We put everything in the marketplace that we humanly could by December 25th. But from December 26th until mid-January, we were effectively out of stock." Fils-Aime said. "It's going to be tight probably until March. And then as we gear up for the April 22nd launch of 'Pok�mon Diamond' and '[Pok�mon] Pearl,' things should certainly open up at that point."

Source:
MTV

Permalink to this article

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Pop_Smith (Senior Member) 18 February 2007 17:08
The shortages are still pretty wide spread and, to my personal amazement, its still a real hot selling item. I was able to pick one up about two weeks ago at my local Play n Trade. As I mentioned earlier, they are still (at least around my area) selling like hotcakes, with about 5 Targets which had ~350 between the five of 'em selling everyone they had in-stock the same day they put 'em out. I got mine only because I checked my local Play n Trade literally ten minutes before they got a shipment in. The store owner would only sell it in a "bundle pack" which consisted of the Wii, an extra Remote and 3 games I got to pick for ~$470 after tax. Luckily I only need to pickup an extra "Nunchuck" for ~$20 to be able to play all the multi player games. My only complaint about the "Nunchuck"/Remote combo is its $60 for a "complete" controller. But it seems like most games do not require the "Nunchuck" which is nice. Peace [ + quote]
gozilla (Member) 18 February 2007 19:25
if they kept the name Revolution, they wouldn't have embarrassing sentences like this, "We apologize that it continues to be a difficult problem to get your hands on [a Wii]," , :p however it is cool to see nintendo is selling well and hopefully, to disprove sony that the Wii isn't just an "impulse buy", it will continue to sell. [ + quote] This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 18 February 2007 19:33
SProdigy (Member) 19 February 2007 4:38
Look around... PS3's are lying on shelves everywhere collecting dust. The ones that do get sold, get returned promptly (mostly eBay resellers or a few systems that overheat.) I still see retailers advertising systems with "tickets" to hold them (ie. Best Buy, Circuit City) and there have been lines, even in 0 degree weather in Northeast Ohio here. Absolutely crazy! [ + quote]
solarf (Member) 19 February 2007 7:29
Here in my area the Wii is always selling out and Ps3 are everywhere at least 3 or 4 in places like Walmart, Target and all over the mall. Unfortunately I still dont have a Wii when Target got in five of them they sold out in a little under two hours leaving me wanting a Wii yet never contemplating the PS3... [ + quote]
squidge37 (Newbie) 19 February 2007 10:32
Their production schedule is one million units a month? Holy smokes. That's 33,333 Wii's manufactured PER DAY [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 19 February 2007 12:56
heres a thought about the shortages people are tired or over hyped systems and like Nintendo because they tend to deliver on gamepaly while everyone else is off in la la land boasting how big their pixles are... [ + quote]
UHALL (Member) 22 February 2007 15:04
Well said, I agree. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 22 February 2007 15:06
Originally posted by UHALL: Well said, I agree. HEY MAN!! how you been?!?! [ + quote]
UHALL (Member) 22 February 2007 15:34
Working too much. Hows the weather in Tenn. [ + quote]
ZippyDSM (AfterDawn Addict) 22 February 2007 15:38
Originally posted by UHALL: Working too much. Hows the weather in Tenn. Odd last week it was cold,it rained for a day the day before yesterday and hailed yesterday and has been warm today 0-o its like the weather stole my mind and is using it for decision makeing 0-o [ + quote]
UHALL (Member) 22 February 2007 15:57
Yeah same here. One day it's -25 below and windy ..this week its 46 and sunny. I am going to pick up my copy of Crackdown for 360 w/ Halo beta and I am going to play online for the first time. I have been looking for a Wii in Illinois and in Indiana but I have struck out like the Cubs(White Sox Fan). [ + quote]
oupiin (Newbie) 24 February 2007 15:59
I purchased a WII last week and an extra nun-chuk/controller. Now I need two more of each and cannot find them anywhere... I guess the hunt for them is like trying to get the orginal WII. [ + quote]