Sony makes most of Wii shortages - BBC NEWS

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/tecahnology/7095976.stm

"Sony is taking advantage of Nintendo Wii shortages and a recent price cut of the PlayStation 3 to double weekly sales of the console in the US.

 Sony boss Howard Stringer told the Associated Press news agency: "It's a little fortuitous that the Wii is running out of hardware."


Two weeks after the price cut Sony sold 100,000 PS3s in seven days.
Mr Stringer said the increase in sales of the console was "the breakthrough we have been anticipating."



He added: "Obviously, we've taken so much heat over the year on PS3. Finally, the turning point has been passed."


Nintendo has become a victim of its own success, with many shops in the US and UK struggling to meet demand.


A spokesman for Nintendo UK denied that the company was witholding supply to boost interest.


"The video games market is a fiercely competitive one and it is not in our interest to withhold stock from anyone," he said.
Microsoft and Nintendo have not released weekly sales figures for their consoles.""


I really don't know what to say about this. It's entirely believable, but at the same time it sounds like Sony are trying to use the shortage to boost their own spotlight without any actual merit.


And I lol at how Ninty are still saying they aren't keeping supply down to boost interest. They could buy more factories and get them working with the money this thing has earned so far.
 
I think that press story is reading way too much into things. We all know how messed up normal media is when handling game stories.

Personally, I don't think the Wii shortages have any effect on the PS3 sales, mainly because the Wii is still targetted at amore casual, and cheaper audience.

The sales jump for the PS3 is probably attributed to both the price drop and some good new games coming out for it.
 
This will sound like a bash, but just rationale thinking here... I don't think one week of good sales is "turning the tide." Especially after a price drop. They had a similar boost back in the summer and nothing really changed. If they can hold those numbers through Christmas, then yes the tide is turning.
 
Two things...

I don't believe in this talk of the Wii being "rare" and everyone wanting one... Seems more like hype some how.

Sony's Breakthough won't come until they release their anticipated games.
 
lol Sony's really making the most of nintendo selling out almost universally and selling near a half million every month, because it's such a huge problem for nintendo.. lol lol lol lol
 
[quote name='VipFREAK']Two things...

I don't believe in this talk of the Wii being "rare" and everyone wanting one... Seems more like hype some how.

Sony's Breakthough won't come until they release their anticipated games.[/QUOTE]

It's been a year since the Wii has been out and you're still using the "hype" and "fad" argument? Come on, at least come up with something new, or, *gasp* give the Wii some props for what it has accomplished.
 
I have to agree with Corvin. One week does not make the grade IMO. I'd love for this to be the turning point. I'm still a Sony guy at heart and I want the PS3 to succeed. We should probably wait to see what happens after this Christmas.
 
[quote name='daphatty']I have to agree with Corvin. One week does not make the grade IMO. I'd love for this to be the turning point. I'm still a Sony guy at heart and I want the PS3 to succeed. We should probably wait to see what happens after this Christmas.[/QUOTE]

Well, the article is based on the absurd premises that:
1) 52 weeks later, people are saying "still can't find a Wii...what's that 40lb. box collectiing dustin the corner? I want that 'un instead!"
2) Many folks are willing to abandon their hope of finding a $250 system and are willing to substitute a $400 system for it
3) The fact that Wii shortages haven't led to any other sudden and spurious PS3-buying spikes thus far.

It's way to early to call it a trend, but it's good to see that the system is selling at $400 more than it had been. A very good sign.
 
And keep in mind, this is purely the reporter's writing. All he did was take a small statement, probably part of a larger paragraph, from a Sony interview, and tack that on to PS3 and Wii sales reports.
 
[quote name='Vanigan']The sales jump for the PS3 is probably attributed to both the price drop and some good new games coming out for it.[/quote]

Well, yeah, of course that's the case. With a price drop, Ratchet and Clank, and some good multiplatform games, the PS3 was bound to have a sales boost. Hopefully it can maintain it. The PS3 at $400 is better than the 360 was at $400 (don't get me wrong, I love my 360, but really, $400 for the console with Blu-Ray and a 40GB HDD is much better than $400 for the console, no high-def player, and only 20GB), and it would seem likely that the PS3 would maintain these better sales.
 
I don't believe in this talk of the Wii being "rare" and everyone wanting one... Seems more like hype some how.

No...I'm afraid it's not. I admittedly did see a handful of Wii 'in the wild' at my Best Buy of choice, but those sightings were on early Tuesday afternoons in the Summer. Two days ago, one could find plenty of PS3s and 360s (all the various SKUs), but there was nary a Wii to be found. The accessories seem to have caught up with demand, though.

I think it's 60/40 manufactured shortage perpetuating the already crazy demand, but regardless, they're just not there. And it's about to get a fuckload worse all over again. Right...about...NOW.
 
I don't get why people have this crazy conspiracy theory about the Wii shortage. Unlike MS and Sony, Nintendo has come out and said they will not waste money building a new factory just to alleviate a little demand. They're in it to make money. Dropping a few million on a temporary factory isn't really smart business sense.

They've been putting out the same amount of Wii's every month. If they were making more to create this "false demand" they would have to spend money on warehouse's to store the extra systems.

It just doesn't seem like Nintendo's M.O. IMO, it's just a conspiracy theory from hardcore fans of the other two console makers.
 
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