The Wii Shortage

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/134220.asp?source=mypi

Wii is outselling Xbox 360 in the US, at least for as much as two months...not a big deal, but might help to explain it.

I still cannot decide if it is Nintendo strategy or if they really just cannot keep up with demand.

ctrl-alt-delete wrote:http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/134220.asp?source=mypi

Wii is outselling Xbox 360 in the US, at least for as much as two months...not a big deal, but might help to explain it.

I still cannot decide if it is Nintendo strategy or if they really just cannot keep up with demand.

According to VGChartz, the 360 has sold about 2 million more units than the Wii in the United States. [scroll down to the hardware section and check the "Total" column.]

^^ Well yeah, the XBox 360 had a head start of a year.

I have to lean toward the strategy. I'm fairly certain that Nintendo could keep up with the demand. They just want the public to think, "Wow, the Wii is still wildly popular since it's been sold out since it was released!"

With that, the demand is still high, though. The release of Brawl has encouraged a lot of people to buy one (including many people I know). Plus, the Wii is just awesome.

I'm certainly not dissing the wii. I'd like one. I'm just not interested enough to wait in line and go nuts. I just want to saunter in to Best Buy and pick one up. I'm confused as to why all other companies have made this possible.

They've had 2 YEARS to figure out the Wii is popular. They should be pumping those bitches out by now.

Exactly. If Nintendo honestly isn't able to keep up with demand yet, they really should have increased productivity at least a year ago. But again, if they are holding back because they want the impression of being sold out everywhere.......I can't say I don't blame them. It's a good strategy, although it makes finding a Wii frustrating.

Ever consider eBay? [noparse]😃[/noparse]

Wii was released at the end of 2006. It's not even close to 2 years old yet.

I got my Wii a year ago, so I'm not really one to care.

This past February I read that Wii sold 400,000+, with DS in second, and behind that PS3. If that is the case, where are these 400,000 some units? The store here saw no more than 9(more like 3) if that many the entire month. I don't get it either Bel. :shrug:

It's all about being in the right place at the right time... total luck. I found mine the week it came out, around 4 PM on Black Friday actually. A very odd time to have luck like that, but I must have gone into the store just after they received a shipment. Good luck casually running into one though. You may want to at least find out when stores will be receiving shipments so you can at least go at a time when you may actually find a few on the shelves.

According to Nintendo, their factories are running at full production, but it wouldn't be cost-effective to open a new factory. I'm willing to believe them, because at this point, artificial scarcity can't possibly be helping them. I mean, the whole point of creating artificial scarcity is to increase demand, but you if you don't supply the goods to match the demand, there's no point, is there? I mean, by now, I imagine a lot of potential Wii customers have gone out and just purchased a 360 instead, because it's actually available.

Beldaran wrote:According to VGChartz, the 360 has sold about 2 million more units than the Wii in the United States. [scroll down to the hardware section and check the "Total" column.]

I remember hearing the Wii already surpased the GameCube sales in Japan in its first year. Everyone wants a Wii.

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3165002

It overtook the 360 back in September

http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3162770

The Financial Times reports that the Wii has surpassed Microsoft's Xbox 360 in global sales. It's the first time in 17 years -- during the dominate 16 bit days of the SNES -- that Nintendo sits at the top spot of the console market.
The report is based on sales figures from Enterbrain in Japan, NPD Group in the US and GfK of Germany, which tracks European sales. Sales figures from each console's launch date through the end of July (and the end of August in Japan) were added up, with the Wii just barely edging out the 360: 9 million for the Wii, 8.9 million for the 360, and 3.7 million for the PlayStation 3.

That's with the 360 having a head-start of a full year. The Wii, in fact, hasn't even been out a full year. Nintendo surpassed Sony in global market share in July.

Try Sundays when stores advertise in their flyers or during the week.

I have an xbox elite and a wii. I found both by calling walmart and target everyday for a week and by luck they got one in and held it for me at customer service. If you want one, that's what you have to do. Call and find out when they get their shipments, then call on those days to see if they are available. Call your local best buy, circuit city, toysrus, costco, walmart, and target.

bleh, I'll just get one in 7-8 months.

EDIT: hey, this was my 7000th post. I... probably spend too much time online.

It doesn't make any sense to purposely have a shortage. That doesn't "increase demand". Then again, it doesn't make sense that Nintendo hasn't seriously upped their production capacity right now, unless they think adding too many factories or whatnot could be too costly in the long run. I think Ninty just needs to revamp its business model and start putting more consoles out, because if it still can't adjust, something's wrong.

There must be a supplier of a part or two who aren't able to keep up with the demand thus causing the shortage. The popularity of the system is world wide and the task of producing all of the systems is equal to the building the great pyramids of Egypt. :P I recommend buying one at Fry's Electronics if you live near one. When they get a shipment they usually last through the afternoon.

If you really want one, try grabbing one online, either through eBay (which I don't recommend - unfair price increases suck) or an online store, which is where I got mine. I tend to favour going online with things like this, because you can tell straight away whether they have stock or not (the big Out of Stock is a bit of a clue), and if there's a problem with your order, say it'll be delayed, then they'll keep you up-to-date.

But that's just me.

yep, buy online so they can empty your bank accounts and the bank can keep you up to date with the amount of cash stolen 😉

And Xbox is outselling Wii in America.

RRoD. 'nuff said.

pretty much the same crap here. Nintendo should stop with the games for a minute and consider how much it pisses everyone off.

Old-skool wrote:pretty much the same crap here. Nintendo should stop with the games for a minute and consider how much it pisses everyone off.

Stop with the games?

Right, and maybe McDonalds should stop with the fast food.

I was at a Gamestop the other day and asked whether or not they happened to have any Wiis in stock. Of course, they didn't. My next question was when they were going to be getting more in, and how many. Four... they were only getting four in. Those things are going to sold within ten minutes of receiving them. I definately think it's a marketing stategy. Now, whether it will pay off in the end or just piss a bunch of people off has yet to be seen. For now though, it's working!

FirstWizZedd45 wrote:Now, whether it will pay off in the end or just piss a bunch of people off has yet to be seen.

A little from column A, a little from column B...

I thought Nintendo was working with GameStop for a "preorder" program, where you "preorder" it, and the next time they get a shipment in you get one automatically. Isn't that still going on, or was that a Christmas thing?

No idea as to whether or not GameStop is still running that program. I got lucky with my Wii... I managed to snag one without too much difficulty, but only because I happened to call pretty much right when they got a shipment and asked them to hang on to one for me.

Stores don't seem to get more than three or four at a time, which is incredibly frustrating. I don't think it's just a marketing strategy any more... I did at first, as sold-out consoles nationwide inevitably creates the "Oh wow the Wii is so popular" media blitz. Still, a year and a half (ballpark) after it's release, I don't think they'd still be causing an artificial shortage. At this point, there are loads of people who would love nothing more than to give Nintendo money, and no company on the planet turns their back on money.

Dann Woolf wrote:Stop with the games?

Right, and maybe McDonalds should stop with the fast food.

Hey, I think this guy owns a wii.

I'm going to make it very simple what's probably going on: Nintendo is churning out plenty of wiis for everyone. The problem is, people keep buying more and more wiis that should have gone to someone else, and making overpriced monopolies on ebay.

Old-skool wrote:I'm going to make it very simple what's probably going on: Nintendo is churning out plenty of wiis for everyone. The problem is, people keep buying more and more wiis that should have gone to someone else, and making overpriced monopolies on ebay.

Overall, the problem has been covered. Nintendo's factories are churning them out as fast as they can. But from a business perspective it is not cost effective to open up brand new factories like crazy. Eventually, that demand WILL die off. Then you are left with a bunch of unnecessary factories chewing into your profits. I assume they *are* opening some, but not enough that they will be screwed once demand dies down.

I'll also agree the eBay thing isn't helping. People are just greedy, all there is to it.

But yeah, I lucked out - went launch day, waited in line for about 3 hours (DS ftw!). It was cold as hell but I got one, no problem.

I suppose the only advice I can give is that sometimes you are better off with a less-Electronicy store. For example, GameStop, Best Buy, Toys R Us, etc. Those places are likely to get sold out right away. But supermarkets like Target, Walmart, etc might be a better bet. I got mine at Target and in fact, the line I was waiting in wasn't even full until an hour before the store opened. Literally a guy walking up at 7am got the last Wii ticket they were handing out. So those might be better places to focus on, but who knows. It's all a matter of luck.

Now is probably a bad time regardless though - with Smash Bros just having come out, Wiis are going to be REALLY hard to come by.

By the time the demand goes down, Nintendo will be releasing another console. The wii has 3 years left before that happens.

The Wii shortage is actually kind of interesting. See, with most products, not just video game stuff, the demand is a pyramid shape. At first everybody wants some, but as time goes on the demand decreases and we move up to the top of the pyramid. But the Wii pyramid is up-side-down. At first, few people wanted them (Well, few compared to now) and as time went on more and more people wanted them. Because, (especially around the holidays) people would bring them to parties and the other people were like "Wow, I want one of those things." So every one started buying them up.

But the artificial scarcity is a brilliant idea. It's pissing people off, but it's working. Basic economics, supply goes down, demand goes up. Just be glad they're not raising to price to meet the demand.