Industry News | Nintendo Purposely Causing Wii Shortages?

By Adam Riley 28.03.2007 27

In a somewhat surprising accusation, GameStop's COO has expressed his opinion on the matter of the recent Wii shortages, claiming they are manufactured by Nintendo. Dan DeMatteo has stated in a recent conference call that he thinks Nintendo has attempted to create demand for its Wii console by constraining supplies of the new hardware system. For reference, Nintendo's global target is six million units shipped by the end of March, 2007.

"I don't think [Wii supply] going to be an issue going forward, and

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zcollvee (aka zafarali) is offline. zcollvee (aka zafarali) 28.03.2007#1

Nintendo you betray me?


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L is offline. L 28.03.2007#2

you know, Nintendo act pretty gay some times

 
ohm is offline. ohm 28.03.2007#3

They are a business, they don't owe you anything.

 
Laurelin is offline. Laurelin 28.03.2007#4

What rubbish?! Why does he say that and why do you believe that?
It's not that easy to produce more consoles just like snipping fingers! It makes no sense, because Nintendo earns money with Wii-consoles.

Why should they do it? Because Access of their servers is getting too high and therefore being to expensive? They shorten because they only have a small amount of Wiimotes nearby? That they do not want to make money with selling more games because of Wii's wider userbase? That they want to report great growing rates next fiscal year, too?

Sorry, but I do not kind of believe this. Why should they? They must spred Wii before PS3 gets a hold of homes and there are good PS3 games being released. So why should they shorten? They only have booked some production capacities and can not widen them on the spot. They have to book more factory capacity and that's not done overnight.

So I think Nintendo only would betray themselves. But I do not understand bussiness and Business man are doing a lot of shit these days.

I find your lack of faith disturbing!
 
bla bla bla is offline. bla bla bla 28.03.2007#5

i doubt Nintendo would of done that SmilieSmilieSmilie

 
Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 28.03.2007#6

Every Wii on shelfs is a Wii sold, and more potential software buyers.

Of course Nintendo isnt going to hold back stock.

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JoshSL is offline. JoshSL 28.03.2007#7

It doesn't sound too farfetched... I think maybe Nintendo want to build up the waiting list, or keep the consoles sold out, so it makes them look popular...

It's a stupid business scheme, like all business schemes. I was starting to think they had been doing it on purpose too, especially when the PS3 started to sell so well but still have stock...

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squeek is offline. squeek 28.03.2007#8

I've been keeping an eye on the Wii UK stock, mostly online, but checking some shops if I have the chance. There has definitely been a big shortage. If in April there is a big stock refresh in multiple shops, then this will point towards stock piling.

So we'll see how much truth there is in a few weeks.

Maybe all the Wiis on ebay that people have snapped up to make a profit will start going cheaper that RRP if the shops all get stock in. Although if they have the receipts they'll probably just return them.

 
Balladeer is offline. Balladeer 28.03.2007#9

If they truly have done this, my opinion of them has descended to somewhere between my opinions on excrement and malaria. Commercial-minded gits.


Screwing the rules since 1989.
 
DaOne is offline. DaOne 28.03.2007#10

Smilie Way to state the obvious...

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MetalKingSlime is offline. MetalKingSlime 28.03.2007#11

that's probably true.

 
Slydevil is offline. Slydevil 28.03.2007#12

I think Balladeer forget Nintendo were a company for the last seventeen years.

( Edited on 28.03.2007 16:51 by Slydevil )

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Dude yuor totally awesome. And i won't be killing you anytime soon.

 
Zapp is offline. Zapp 28.03.2007#13

I dont beleive it... why would Nintey want to do that!?!?
Nintendo want to sell as much Wii's possible before the PS3 starts catching up... so i doubt they would want to slow down the production....
its not gonna hurt the consumer if Wii's dont get sold its gonan hurt Nintey in the pocket!! Smilie

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Mongo is offline. Mongo 28.03.2007#14

Mr. DeMatteo is speaking nonsense.

Maybe he thinks his company isn't getting a big enough share of the limited output of the hottest selling item on the market, and this is just a bit of sour grapes on his part.

Nintendo has been running at max Wii production non-stop since well before the Wii hit the shelves.

Every Wii they sell earns money (unlike PS3 and 360, which lose money on every hardware sale), so holding back production makes no sense.

You can't just throw a switch and make more hardware production facilities appear (unless you weren't using the full capacity, of course). It takes time to find or build the space, install production hardware, secure more parts, train new people to run it, etc.

Now, if it was software, then yeah, they could ramp up extra production in a matter of weeks (as opposed to months). But making hardware isn't as simple as stamping out some DVD's, printing some extra paper, and slapping it in a box.

Trust me, Nintendo likes making money Smilie

And if they could figure out a way to get more Wiis out there, they would be doing it (and, as the article above points out, they ARE ramping up production in April, less than 5 months after the Wii started selling...I expect that decision was made within days of realizing just how fast it was selling out over the first few days).

If there is any criticism you could level at Nintendo, it was being a bit conservative on their estimates for the demand. But they've always been a very conservative company, business wise (which is why they've been in business for 117+ years Smilie ).

 
Spydarlee is offline. Spydarlee 28.03.2007#15

I don't know much about this, but I got the impression Nintendo were doing it to avoid disappointing figures later on.

Right now they still have masses of people wanting a Wii, which means people are willing to wait.

"Because they made their numbers for the year" they don't 'need' to sell anymore financially, share values are going to be higher when their is constant demand/coverage for the system.

If suddenly everyone who wants a Wii gets one, then what happens? Nintendo won't fill their quota for next year, and even though the units will still have been sold it will look worse to shareholders, etc and Nintendo will end up losing out.

By holding out until April and THEN releasing more units knowing full well they have an audience to buy them next years results will look ace as well as this years which = win for Nintendo.


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setupweasel is offline. setupweasel 28.03.2007#16

Spydarlee said:
I dont know much about this, but I got the impression Nintendo were doing it to avoid disappointing figures later on.Right now they still have masses of people wanting a Wii, which means people are willing to wait.Because they made their numbers for the year they dont need to sell anymore financially, share values are going to be higher when their is constant demand/coverage for the system.If suddenly everyone who wants a Wii gets one, then what happens? Nintendo wont fill their quota for next year, and even though the units will still have been sold it will look worse to shareholders, etc and Nintendo will end up losing out.By holding out until April and THEN releasing more units knowing full well they have an audience to buy them next years results will look ace as well as this years which = win for Nintendo.

Why would they be fucking around with April sales then? This makes no sense. I might... might believe they may short October for November and December, but a good April isn't going to score any points with investors. In fact, since their fiscal year ends Mar 31, Nintendo has every reason to pad their sales for a good end of year report. That would suggest that they would rush Wii to market before the deadline.

Listen, if there is a shortage it is for one of two reasons:

1) Shortage of components.
2) Trouble with defects.

If you look at the sales numbers for January and February, Nintendo said they were making a million a month, and they sold about a million a month.


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Spydarlee is offline. Spydarlee 28.03.2007#17

Nintendo has every reason to pad their sales for a good end of year report.

No I think it would be the other way around, they have already met (exceeded) this year's expectations, that can go down in reports already, so why waste more units now when it won't look any different if they do?

By starting to bump up supply from next month they stand a better of chance of next year's report looking as good as this year's because they would off to a great start from the off thanks to the consumers who still want the console.

EDIT: Raz updated.

( Edited on 28.03.2007 18:38 by Spydarlee )


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Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 28.03.2007#18

oh, and "quotas" is utter nonsense.

Its more important to make money.
You dont hold back just to forfill next years quota.

Especialy as holding back reduces GAME sales, which they also almsot certainly have a quota for which is much more important.

All of this "reports" seems to forget that fact that Nintendo is only answerable to themselfs and their share holders.

Its not going to help Nintendo one bit in either case holding back wii stocks.

Its about saleing games.

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Darkflame is offline. Darkflame 28.03.2007#19

oh, and on the side, why Sony has ok stock is simple;

They delayed their Euro launch FOR 6 MONTHS!

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Raff is offline. Raff 28.03.2007#20

At the very least, they're having a very relaxed approach to upping supply. They've been talking about improving it for months now, but guess when supply will be sorted out? April, the new fiscal year. Handy that.

It's going to be shit and you jolly well know it.
 
Mongo is offline. Mongo 28.03.2007#21

Nintendo responded to this story already ( http://www.gwn.com/news/story.php/id/11923/Nintendo_Not_Withholding_Wii_Units.html )

Following our previous report regarding GameStop's COO Dan DeMatteo suggestion that Nintendo are intentionally limiting the supply of Wii's, Nintendo have come out and responded saying that the claims are definitely not accurate.

Speaking to Next-Gen, George Harrison said that:

 
setupweasel is offline. setupweasel 28.03.2007#22

Spydarlee said:
No I think it would be the other way around, they have already met (exceeded) this years expectations, that can go down in reports already, so why waste more units now when it wont look any different if they do?By starting to bump up supply from next month they stand a better of chance of next years report looking as good as this years because they would off to a great start from the off thanks to the consumers who still want the console.EDIT: Raz updated.( Edited on 28.03.2007 18:38 by Spydarlee )

In April? Everyone including Nintendo knows that the real time for a shine in sales is the holiday season. A rosy FY 2007 means more 3rd party and investor support now. A rosy Q1 2008 will not mean as much.

But like I said, Nintendo's stated production and sales have been consistent. There is no artificial shortage.


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Ski is offline. Ski 28.03.2007#23

Nintendo's first chance in over ten years to lead the console war and they're holding back? I dont think so, besides how much more do people expect the Wii to sell?

( Edited on 28.03.2007 20:30 by SKI )

 
Ski is offline. Ski 28.03.2007#24

Nintendo's first chance in over ten years to lead the console war and they're holding back? I dont think so, besides how much more do people expect the Wii to sell?

 
Anordara is offline. Anordara 28.03.2007#25

I heard this myself a week or two back (chatting to the manager of Game in Canary Wharf) He stated that Nintendo are stockpiling Wiis until towards the end of the year. By doing this, they maximise the buying of games at Christmas (allegedly). I'm not truly convinced by this but then again......Smilie

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