AfterDawn: News

Nintendo warns shoppers of Wii shortage in UK

In the console wars this generation, its not anything new that Nintendo has become a regular juggernaut in terms of sales. Even a year after its launch, its still difficult for the average consumer to walk into their local electronics store and find a Wii sitting on the store shelves. Worldwide the little console that could is hopping off shelves and into happy homes faster than Nintendo can keep up. Nintendo now warns that it may not be able to keep up with the demand to keep UK shelves stocked during this holiday season.

Nintendo has said that it is doing everything possible to keep up with demand and the company has decided to ship an additional 3.5 million units globally. In April, Nintendo estimated a yearly shipment of 14 million units but has raised that estimate to 17.5 million. Despite that, Nintendo says that not every gamer who wants a Wii for the holidays is guaranteed to get one.



"The demand for Wii hardware globally has been unprecedented and higher than Nintendo could ever have anticipated. Nintendo is now in a position in which seasonality demand trends are being broken, therefore the demand for Wii hardware is constant throughout the whole year globally. Due to this phenomenon it is possible that the demand for Wii hardware may outstrip supply," said a Nintendo spokeswoman.

Source:
BBC News

Written by: Dave Horvath @ 14 Nov 2007 17:18

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• 8 comments

• vinny13

  Ahah only in the east...

  14.11.2007 19:07 #1

• b18bek9

  i'm not a big fan of the wii but i'm surprised myself in how the wii is selling....Its not my cup of tea but i give nintendo props on selling the most consoles compared to the 360 an ps3....

  15.11.2007 02:33 #2

• goodswipe

  Nah, they are pretty much sold out all over the US as well. It's next to impossible to find one sitting on the shelves anywhere. If one does come in, it's gone before it even hits the shelves.

  15.11.2007 10:28 #3

• tester22

  Agreed with the last comment. U.S. is next to near impossible to find one sitting on the shelves. I got wayyyy lucky 3 months ago during one of those phases where Nintendo shipped out a bunch. Didn't even know it happened and I just randomly walked into a local BestBuy and a small sign on the door said WIIs in stock. Walked over and voila! There were 15 left so I grabbed one and got an extra nun chucku controller. I'm 34 and there are many games that I just don't deal in because their geared for youngins but there are plenty that are unbeatable like Tony Hawk downhill Jam. Not so fun on PS2 but an absolute blast on WII.

  15.11.2007 10:40 #4

• nerro

  I just got one tonight from Comet (UK). Went there on the off chance and they had one left. Not sure now whether to keep it or sell on ebay, they're going for just under £300 on there.

  15.11.2007 16:15 #5

• goodswipe

  I'd keep it a little longer, more people will be willing to fork out the extra dough once it gets closer to crunch time for x-mas gifts. I sold mine easily last week for 450 bucks. If I would have waited, I probably could have gotten more.

  15.11.2007 16:30 #6

• vinny13

  Ya I say wait til' the last week of November or first week of December.

  15.11.2007 16:55 #7

• borhan9

  this should not be seen as a surprise for consumers the rate it has been selling it would become this way.

  2.12.2007 20:51 #8