Nintendo Fail To Plan For Christmas Demand
November 16, 2007 | Filed under Gaming, News, Nintendo Wii
With just 39 shopping days left until Christmas many have been frustrated to find that they are unable to get hold of a Nintendo Wii. Shoppers in the UK are left reeling at the thought that they won’t be able to get a console this side of Christmas.
Shops are trying their hardest to get more stock ahead of the Christmas rush but it seems the Wii manufacturers didn’t account for such a huge demand.
Do you think this will effect Nintendo Wii’s reputation - should they have been more prepared?
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I’ve read that Nintendo is manufacturing 1,800,000 Wiis a month. That’s a decent supply number, so I can’t see how they could be faulted for the incredible demand?
Perhaps if Sony would offer some of their unused PS3 production facilities, Nintendo could produce enough Wiis?
I think it’s a deliberate ploy to keep prices high and to keep the product “in demand”.
For example, up until last week, UK customers were able to purchase wii consoles directly from Amazon.de. Now it appears that Amazon.de have been given a directive from Nintendo HQ that they are no longer allowed to distribute the consoles to the UK - even though they have plenty of stock in Germany.
I think it’s utter nonsense that Nintendo did not forsee the end of year rush for consoles and is another demonstration of the contempt that the retail market holds for UK customers. Once more, the phrase “Rip-off Britain” springs to mind.
I think Dee’s comments are ludicrous, is she a Daily Mail columnist? The Nintendo Wii has been sold out almost constantly since its launch. So your are saying they should of stocked up on consoles throughout the year (when they were always sold out) so there would be enough demand for Christmas?
Its simple logic, that when demand outstrips supply, there will be shortages. Nintenso aren’t however using it to keep prices high, by the fact the Wii is £180 with a game making it the cheapest price for a console for generations. The reason you can’t buy it from Amazon.de is because they are German products which come with a continental power supply, and as anyone knows, continental power supplies do not comply with british health and safety regulations. Also you have no valid warranty if you buy it from Amazon.de. And they don’t have plenty of stock in Germany…they have plenty of stock at amazon.de. This is because they recieved a large shipment last week, hence the rush on amazon.de, not just from the uk, but from belgium, the netherlands and France.
Nintendo couldn’t of predicted the scale of demand for the Wii, it is about 10x higher than that of the gamecube. They have more than doubled output capacity in their manufacturing facilities, and they are continuing to increase it in response to an almost continuous demand.
So how about we thank Nintendo for making a revolutionary, intuitive console available at an affordable price, instead of lamenting them for the consequences of making the console cheap at launch.
I’m trying to find a Wii for my wife this Christmas and just can’t seem to find one. Surely they could make some more to cope with the christmas demands?
- ‘I think it’s a deliberate ploy to keep prices high and to keep the product “in demand”. ‘
Do you really think it makes business sense to generate demand for a product but not make it available for people to buy?
Sony have reported a corresponding surge in PS3 sales because at least you can buy them.
Does it make sense for Nintendo to push customers into the arms of the main competition?
And why does Nintendo need to keep prices high? It’s already cheaper than the other two main consoles, and Nintendo really are not bothered about the fluidity in the second hand Wii market.
This is simply a case of demand for a hugely successful product exceeding supply.
Oh hang on a minute, that’s far too simple, there must be a conspiracy there somewhere!