Nintendo short on holiday Wii supply for the US

Written by Andre Yoskowitz @ 23 Jul 2008 4:33 User comments (7)

Comments from Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata have suggested that the the company will once again have trouble meeting demand in the US for its Wii console this holiday season

"We are really intending to increase the shipments to the US, especially compared to last year," said Iwata in an interview with Forbes.

"However, I can't give you a 100 percent commitment [that you'll be able to find a Wii this holiday season]. What I can commit myself to is that Nintendo is going to do its best to supply as many Wii hardware units as possible in order to meet demand there."

Iwata added that the company was picking up production of the Wii from 1.8 million units each month to an expected 2.4 million units by the end of August. US retailers will see a good portion of the new units. Is the company still in shock at the amount of sustained demand in the US? "We could not imagine it would be that high," says Iwata.

Many consumers in the US and Europe were upset last Christmas when retailers suffered intense shortages of the popular console and any new shipment was bought up within minutes. Nintendo America boss Reggie Fils-Aime added "that the average unit sits on retail shelves for only an hour before being snapped up."

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7 user comments

123.7.2008 22:14

susieqbbb

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Not surprising even here in washington state where Nintendo is located at we have shipment problems here consoles fly off shelves fast and i do mean fast online retailers seem to be the only ones that can get the consoles recently my freind wanted a wii and could only find one online through costco

223.7.2008 22:29

gozilla

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two years into it's life and Nintendo is still having shortage problems? Is this bad management or just trying to keep hype surrounding the console?

323.7.2008 22:38

xnonsuchx

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Nintendo PURPOSELY keeps supply low to drive demand higher. I know several people who work at Nintendo who say there's always tons of them just sitting around in warehouses. Nintendo just does 'trickle' shipments to retails so people think they have to pounce on one to get one. If retailers had long waiting lists to get one, Nintendo would probably all of a sudden not have a supply issue...until those waiting lists went down again.

This message has been edited since its posting. Latest edit was made on 23 Jul 2008 @ 10:40

423.7.2008 22:40

atomicxl

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Originally posted by gozilla:
two years into it's life and Nintendo is still having shortage problems? Is this bad management or just trying to keep hype surrounding the console?

But Nintendo usually sells more than its competition combined. Assuming they are producing at capacity, they would need to build a whole new planet in order to even make one more unit per cycle. Perhaps economically, the price of building a whole new factory is more than the potential of lost sales due to people getting tired of waiting for a Wii and buying something else.

Plus the dollar is weak. They don't make as much per Wii from US sales as they do from places like Europe (in general) and Japan.

524.7.2008 00:38

Blackjax

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You got to laugh at the title of the article though, it should read STILL in short supply regardless fo the time of year. My wife wants me to get one for the kids. Only trouble is online you can only find the package deals and if you want one in the store be prepared to fight your local soccer mom for one. AS for auction sites an ice cube stands a better chance in hell than me paying more than the list price for one. Oh well wii'll just have to wait and see if they can fix their supply problems.

624.7.2008 02:32

kevindy

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However, I can't give you a 100 percent commitment.
wow~~ what

724.7.2008 21:01

neo1000

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c'mon iwata mine just broke i need a replacement asap.

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Nintendo short on holiday Wii supply for the US

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