Nintendo Ramps Up Wii Production Rate

By Adam Riley 27.10.2008 12

In the hope of satiating demand for the immensely popular Wii console over the festive period, Nintendo has upped the amount of systems it is producing., according to comments from Nintendo of America's President, Reginald Fils-Aime. Previously it has been thought that late last year the figure was to be boosted to 1.8 million units made per month, but Reggie states now that figure was closer to 1.6 million. Whatever the case, though, the figure is about to leap up to 2.4 million consoles each month in order to keep up with the non-stop demand that has seen nearly 13 million units sold in the US alone, over-taking the Xbox 360 despite its year head-start.

"Nintendo has continually raised the production levels of the Wii hardware. We're now producing 2.4 million units a month worldwide. Last year, we made 1.6 million a month. So we've made a 33 per cent increase. One of our competitors projects they will sell 10 million consoles worldwide this year. For us, that's three months of production. We're producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try to meet demand."

Fils-Aime went on to state how the global credit crunch is not having much of an impact on Nintendo, but did reveal that one third of US retailers have seen stocks of Wii Fit run completely dry. This is certainly not surprising given how the game is currently on track to overtake the total sales of Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV thanks to a far more regular sales performance than the PS3/Xbox 360 title, which has dropped off considerably in recent months.

"At this point, only about three in ten stores will have Wii Fit in stock. We are dramatically increasing shipments of Wii Fit. We've sold somewhere around three million units. The demand has been so brisk that it has been difficult to catch up. The other challenge is that we're seeing demand from a whole new market. Of the people who stood in line in New York, 60% were working women. This is a demographic that arguably has never bought a video game, and they're buying it for themselves."

There are also reports that Japan is low on Wii Fit stock, and the same is definitely true here in the UK. It is definitely looking like a bumper Christmas for the Home of Mario!

Box art for Wii Fit
Developer

Nintendo

Publisher

Nintendo

Genre

Fitness

Players

8

C3 Score

Rated $score out of 10  9/10

Reader Score

Rated $score out of 10  8/10 (16 Votes)

European release date Out now   North America release date Out now   Japan release date Out now   Australian release date Out now   

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One of our competitors projects they will sell 10 million consoles worldwide this year. For us, that\'s three months of production.
It was Nintendo wasn\'t it who constantly insisted they weren\'t competing with 360/PS3 Smilie

Also he fails miserably at maths.

2.4 x 3 = 7.2 Smilie
oh and 2.4 from 1.6 is a 50% production increase.....Smilie

( Edited 27.10.2008 15:22 by ٩๏̯͡๏)۶ )

Avoid Games Like the Plague, productivity++

LOL - that his math was wrong was the first thing that came to mind for me too.

Still, he was only about a month off - four months of Wii's at 2.4 million is 9.6, so I think we can see what he was trying to say. Smilie

Guest 27.10.2008#3

Simon, obviously when you haven't yet outsold your competitor you're in a different market, but as soon as you sell more, that's when you compete again.

And I bet he can't even spell properly either.Smilie

Pff, you don't just increase production for 1 christmas. I bet they've gradually expanded in the last years. And they've withheld some Wiis for christmas, just so they can give some hype talks like these.

Mmm, seems that Wii sales will top 3 million for November and December as I'm sure Nintendo has been saving about 100,000 units a month since January just so they can say that Wii sold more in two months than it's competitors in almost a year.

Wow, what a genious idea. Increasing production to meet demand is definitely an innovative and original method.

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Guest 28.10.2008#7

SuperLink said:
Wow, what a genious idea. Increasing production to meet demand is definitely an innovative and original method.

What?

( Edited 27.10.2008 19:24 by Bart.... )

While Reggie does mistakenly say it is a 33% increase, he does correctly state 50% later in the interview.

Supply and demand, that's the way Smilie

Follow Me on twitter :: @Stulaw90 || My Youtube || Backloggery
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Jesus those guys must have so many dollar bills that they can just use them as toilet paper.

Whilst I love the Wii as it is right now, if Wii2 isn't powerful enough to destroy the universe then I'll be disappointed.

Bart.... said:
And I bet he can't even spell properly either.Smilie
heh well I don't intend on going into PR so I'm sorted Smilie

Avoid Games Like the Plague, productivity++
Guest 29.10.2008#12

٩๏̯͡๏)۶ said:
Bart.... said:
And I bet he can't even spell properly either.Smilie
heh well I don't intend on going into PR so I'm sorted Smilie

I was talking about that Son-Love guy. Since he can't do maths, I thought well, yeah.

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