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Wii Fit supply will 'fall short' this holiday season

Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime has admitted that there will not be enough supply of the popular Wii Fit peripheral to satisfy demand this holiday season.

"With Wii hardware, I think we've got a good shot at meeting demand during the holidays," Fils-Aime noted. "With Wii Fit, I know we'll fall short."

Fils-Aime also added that he thinks 3rd party Wii developers are not reaching the full potential of the console and are therefore not finding the success they hope for.



"I will be able to say our licensees 'get it' when their very best content is on our platform," he says. "And with very few exceptions today, that's not the case."

Any price cut on the Wii coming?

"At some point, it will be time to adjust the [price]," he replied, "but we're nowhere near that point now."

Written by: Andre Yoskowitz @ 20 Nov 2008 2:41

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• 9 comments

• ugc

  This is the same news every year. At what point does the production manager at the Wii plant decide to make the call and produce what the public demand will be forecasted at.
  
  Point being: If they knew they were going to be in short supply, they knew to increase production!
  
  Conclusion: Wii does this on purpose. I have run many plants in my past, and I could ALWAYS keep up with demand. Increase the number of production lines, and hire more employees. Then when demand slows, ...layoffs.

  20.11.2008 12:05 #1

• xaxxon

  irrelevant spam removed

  20.11.2008 13:03 #2

• beanos66

  Every once in a while, here in Sheffield a rumour starts that the Hendersons relish factory is closing down. Now I know they are just rumours but I have to stock up "just in case"
  
  Me thinks this is more of the same but I have no intention of stocking up on Wiifits

  20.11.2008 14:13 #3

• Pop_Smith

  If they are saying this to try and create an artificial demand or not, that is exactly what it does (at least mentally) to people.
  
  If someone is trying to get Wii Fit, they will probably rush out to get it if they heard this, and didn't think about it, because they think the demand will outpace supply, even if that isn't true.

  20.11.2008 14:35 #4

• lxhotboy

  I wonder how much people will pay to get a wii fit without a wait once the short demand hits. Ebay will be flooded with them.

  20.11.2008 21:56 #5

• bomber991

  Originally posted by ugc: This is the same news every year. At what point does the production manager at the Wii plant decide to make the call and produce what the public demand will be forecasted at.
  
  Point being: If they knew they were going to be in short supply, they knew to increase production!
  
  Conclusion: Wii does this on purpose. I have run many plants in my past, and I could ALWAYS keep up with demand. Increase the number of production lines, and hire more employees. Then when demand slows, ...layoffs.Wii has no direct competition. They only have indirect competition with the xbox360, ps3, and any $250 toys built for kids. So they don't need to up the production levels if it's gonna cost them more to do it.

  21.11.2008 00:14 #6

• ugc

  Originally posted by bomber991: So they don't need to up the production levels if it's gonna cost them more to do it.huh?.. From a business standpoint, more production + higher demand = more sales which = more profit for Wii.
  
  Why just sell 100 when I can sell 1000? Also, think about this: More console sales = more game sales, which, (you guessed it) = more profit for Wii.
  
  So, them having a shortage every time you turn around, makes no sense.
  

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  21.11.2008 11:38 #7

• joepet200

  Either Nintendo is giving us the marketing baloney by creating a false demand or they are really incompetent supplying their market with goods.
  Xmas in less than 6 weeks and there aren't ANY WiiFIT ANYwhere to be found. Ask a dealer about availability and they snicker and look at me like "Are you serious? If I can't get any what makes you think you're gonna get one!" Same story this Xmas as it was last Xmas. Too much demand and no supply. I'll have to buy another product for Xmas presents so you can take all the time you need Mr.Reggie Fils-Aime.
  I'm tired of waiting, I'm selling my Wii.
  
  Merry Xmas.

  21.11.2008 16:57 #8

• Gnawnivek

  I haven't play my Wii since Mario Galaxy (oh wait, Wii Fit)... I haven't bought a Wii game since Wii Fit. After the Wii board telling me that i'm fat, well, tell that to Mario, at least i don't have a belly like that!
  
  Funnies aside, Wii Fit is so so, some of the balancing mini games are anal to the max, how the hell you master it, beats me! I tried it, i don't really like it, but i just want to have it so that i can join those chick chats (not bad for $80, but the iPod touch works better).
  
  Good luck for those still looking for those. Personally, i don't think they're that rare and definitely blame Nintendo for the "shortage."

  24.11.2008 14:02 #9