Wii Shortage about over?

Indiana

Indiana

CAGiversary!
Is the Wii shortage about over? I was at Gamestop in St. John's Michigan and they had a sign saying they had Wii systems. I wandered inside and the manager stated that they had a lot of them but she couldn't say how many. Did all the gamestop stores get a large shipment this Monday?
 
Personally, I've never seen the Wii available on shelves. Ever.

The only time I saw it was when I picked it up at launch.
 
I 've seen Wii's twice at a Walmart. I always go to electronics in stores to see if they are in stock.
 
I saw some happy people walking out of Nintendo World Store with brandy new Wii's yesterday. The NWS is still the only place Ive seen Wii's on the shelf since launch.
 
I've still not seen one on a shelf here in the DC area, but I've not been actively looking either since I got one at launch. I do glance at the shelves if I'm browsing games though.

At any rate, the shortage may alleviate a bit for the next month or two, at least in terms of them not selling out immediately at opening on the days they're in the ads and lasting at least until the afternoon etc.

But it will likely be next spring before they are readily available to just walk in and buy. The demand will just spike again as we get closer to x-mas, especially with Metroid, Mario Galaxy and Smash Bros rolling out in the coming months.

Though I'm disappointed with the console thus far, I can't help but be amazed by the sales remaining so strong. Nintendo really has a monster on their hands.
 
I've been wanting one since launch but I'm always too late to get one.

And my birthday's coming up ;_;

DAMN YOU NINTENDO POPULARITY
 
[quote name='Indiana']Is the Wii shortage about over? I was at Gamestop in St. John's Michigan and they had a sign saying they had Wii systems. I wandered inside and the manager stated that they had a lot of them but she couldn't say how many. Did all the gamestop stores get a large shipment this Monday?[/QUOTE]


Wait what?

why were you there? That store (for a while) wasnt even acknowledged on their system.

Thats getting pretty close to home.
 
I have yet to see one on the shelf. Thank god I got mine at launch. I don't think the Wii is going to be easily available until almost this time next year when you look at the current sales as well as the upcoming releases.
 
Jul 12 - Nintendo expects its popular Wii game machine will continue to be in short supply, according to a New York Times article. The article states Wii continues to be in short supply, according to Reggie Fils-Aimee, the president of Nintendo of America.

I wonder how long this is going to last.
I heard they speculated that even 1st Q 2008 it's still going to be slim pickings. Crazy.
 
And considering every month they're consistently right behind the DS in hardware sales, they're probably comfortable with it.
 
I read over at FW that one person went to two TRUs in NY and both of them had 900 units each. Don't know if it's true or not but a lot of people claimed to have been able to pick one up very late into the day.

I'm thinking that these extra units are form the new contracts Nintendo made to produce more units.
 
Comfortable? I suppose, but they shouldnt be. They ought to be widening the gap, rather than just on the verge of passing the 360.

We're on the verge of actually having system selling grade software. Every month since like late March I thought, surely the shortage must nearly be over. Now I'm soundly convinced we're going well into '08. If Wii fit takes off, maybe even significantly longer. If Oprah ever catches wind of it, you may never get one, EVER.
 
i saw at a target once there were three wii's just sitting there. the next day i happened to be in the same target and they were gone. i think everyone was at church the day i saw them and were going to be buying them afterwards or something haha...either way, it's a rare occurence.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']Comfortable? I suppose, but they shouldnt be. They ought to be widening the gap, rather than just on the verge of passing the 360.
[/QUOTE]

Yep, they are definitely missing a golden chance to lock up this generation by not being able to get supply up to demand.

But I imagine even they didn't expect it to sell as well as it has, and thus didn't have a supply infrastructure in place to handle it. And it probably isn't feasible to expand now as demand will level out eventually/supply finally get caught up and make the extra supply capabilities unnecessary by next summer or so I'd imagine.
 
I have no Idea when the wii shortage will be over. It could be this time next year, Or it could take two years. Who knows? I've only seen Wiis for sale on five occasions, And I bought the last one I saw.
 
only time i saw them was when me and my buddy waited in line the week after launch...to this day i haven't seen any in stores

ive seen elites, 60gb and 20gb ps3's at launch but no wii
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']I'd be up for having a massive surplus in '08 over this situation. Two consecutive Q4s of shortages is an unprecedented kind of unnacceptable.[/QUOTE]

The surplus wouldn't so much be the issue, it's more the expense of buying more production lines/facilities that they won't need in 6 months or so.

But who knows, in the end maybe getting more in stores and widening the gap would be worthwhile.

Then again, maybe the "OMG it's sold out everywhere still" hype will be better for them in the long run than getting supply up to demand quickly since it's both free press and probably drives some sales through people wanting the "hot" item.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Yep, they are definitely missing a golden chance to lock up this generation by not being able to get supply up to demand.

But I imagine even they didn't expect it to sell as well as it has, and thus didn't have a supply infrastructure in place to handle it. And it probably isn't feasible to expand now as demand will level out eventually/supply finally get caught up and make the extra supply capabilities unnecessary by next summer or so I'd imagine.[/QUOTE]

I disagree. I love my Wii, but the games are sorely lacking compared to the 360. Almost anything I buy, I buy the 360 version of. Low supply keeps demand high, and I believe it's on purpose right now.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']I disagree. I love my Wii, but the games are sorely lacking compared to the 360. Almost anything I buy, I buy the 360 version of. Low supply keeps demand high, and I believe it's on purpose right now.[/QUOTE]

I'm in the same boat as you, but I don't think most people buying the Wii now are hardcore gamers who like what the 360 has to offer.

It's parents buying them for their kids, Nintendo fans that haven't got one yet for whatever reason, and casual gamers who want them after playing Wii Sports or reading all the hype.

But I do agree that low supply may be generating more sales in the long run as I noted in the post above. But it's definitely hurting sales in the short term (obviously).
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']I disagree. I love my Wii, but the games are sorely lacking compared to the 360. Almost anything I buy, I buy the 360 version of. Low supply keeps demand high, and I believe it's on purpose right now.[/quote]You can think that all you want, but I don't know what numbers you're using... they're consistently selling approximately double the 360 month over month. So if you're saying due to the game quality that the real demand is probably less than that of the 360, then that means that a couple hundred thousand people each month are buying it only because the previous month it was hard to find - due to another couple hundred thousand people buying it only because the previous month it was hard to find. And so on for the last 7 months.

What we're also forgetting is that MS did this as well, whether intentionally or not. But their shortage following launch ultimately hurt sales in the long run as people just gave up and moved on, producing the March->May glut of consoles. The Wii hasn't suffered a similar consequence.

And the fact that there's a 360 version of the games you're buying is a problem in itself... off the top of my head, the best games on the Wii are only on the Wii (minus maybe Madden).
 
[quote name='botticus']You can think that all you want, but I don't know what numbers you're using... they're consistently selling approximately double the 360 month over month, so I don't know what you believe to be their equilibrium point.

And the fact that there's a 360 version of the games you're buying is a problem in itself... the best games on there are only on the Wii.[/QUOTE]


Wii consoles outstrip 360 consoles 2-to-1? I'd love to see that.

Honestly, there's not really any Wii games out there I'd spend my money on right now, except for a couple of older ones. Hopefully it will get better, but I'm not too hopeful.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']That's where it stopped being credible for me.[/QUOTE]

You should've kept on reading because I went on to say that other people confirmed the same thing as well.:p
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']Wii consoles outstrip 360 consoles 2-to-1? I'd love to see that.

Honestly, there's not really any Wii games out there I'd spend my money on right now, except for a couple of older ones. Hopefully it will get better, but I'm not too hopeful.[/quote]Wow, seriously?

200706npd3yx4.jpg


It's actually only the last few months it has been doubling sales. I was a little optimistic there, sorry. It's much worse for the 360 worldwide, Wii is on the verge of being the global market leader in maybe a month or two, though Halo 3 may reverse that for a month.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']Wii consoles outstrip 360 consoles 2-to-1? I'd love to see that.
[/QUOTE]

From the June NPD data.

http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=16893

Console hardware in particular has seen the most growth. Console hardware grew 69 percent in June to $268 million and it grew 98 percent to $1.7 billion for the first half. Portable game hardware was actually down 6 percent in June, but that didn't stop the Nintendo DS from absolutely running away with the top spot once again. Nintendo's handheld sold 561.9K units compared to the PSP's 290.1K. The top selling console was the Wii with 381.8K, followed by the 360 with 198.4K and the PS3 with 98.5K. [For more on PS3 sales, see SCEA's take here.]
Click to expand...

Not quite 2-to-1, but very close to it, and many months i has been 2-to-1 or greater.
 
This really is insane. I was shocked at launch when there were lines everywhere for the thing as I figured it would be popular, but much like the DS, would grow into it a bit.

I've seen 4 on the shelf since I got mine. One I bought for a present for my cousin's husband, one I picked up for a friend of mine, one I picked up for my Dad, and the fourth I left sitting there. It was weird leaving it there because I feel compelled to buy one when I see it.

I find it hard to believe that the shortage is manufactured, when they're out-selling everyone but their own handheld by a huge margin (2-1 on the 360 and almost 4-1 on the PS3 last month). As is stated, sure they could produce 5 million a month if they wanted to front the cash for it, but that's not fincailly wise in any way shape or form.

I really thought by this time it would be over as the novelty would have worn off. I guess I was very wrong.
 
I haven't actively checked for Wiis since I found mine in December, but since that time I've had three sightings: a Sears (1 unit) a Wal-Mart in a nearby town (3 units) and a Target (1 unit).

The Target had a really funny story along with it. I was there on a Saturday morning, and the one remaining Wii was being guarded by a woman in a shopping cart who had one entire entrance to the aisle blocked while she waited for an employee to get it out. When I approached to see how many they had, she gave me this perfect evil stare of doom. I about cracked up.
 
[quote name='botticus']Wow, seriously?


It's actually only the last few months it has been doubling sales. I was a little optimistic there, sorry. It's much worse for the 360 worldwide, Wii is on the verge of being the global market leader in maybe a month or two, though Halo 3 may reverse that for a month.[/QUOTE]


That's very interesting. You'd have to wonder how many of those go straight to eBay, although you would think the numbers would still be higher than the 360.

You have any numbers on the attach rate for those last few months?

As far as the games go, I like the WiiSports that came with it. I might actually buy more games like that if we had any friends here. Perhaps once we move back to Atlanta. I still haven't touched Godfather, and I need to. Still haven't finished SPM either, but the 360 takes up so much of my time.
 
[quote name='daroga']This really is insane. I was shocked at launch when there were lines everywhere for the thing as I figured it would be popular, but much like the DS, would grow into it a bit.

I've seen 4 on the shelf since I got mine. One I bought for a present for my cousin's husband, one I picked up for a friend of mine, one I picked up for my Dad, and the fourth I left sitting there. It was weird leaving it there because I feel compelled to buy one when I see it.

I find it hard to believe that the shortage is manufactured, when they're out-selling everyone but their own handheld by a huge margin (2-1 on the 360 and almost 4-1 on the PS3 last month). As is stated, sure they could produce 5 million a month if they wanted to front the cash for it, but that's not fincailly wise in any way shape or form.

I really thought by this time it would be over as the novelty would have worn off. I guess I was very wrong.[/QUOTE]

I assumed even worse then you. I figured they'd be everywhere right from the start. I thought the PS3 would be the hard thing to find until about April, and the Wii's would be all over the place. I was waaaaay off.
 
[quote name='CocheseUGA']That's very interesting. You'd have to wonder how many of those go straight to eBay, although you would think the numbers would still be higher than the 360.

You have any numbers on the attach rate for those last few months?

As far as the games go, I like the WiiSports that came with it. I might actually buy more games like that if we had any friends here. Perhaps once we move back to Atlanta. I still haven't touched Godfather, and I need to. Still haven't finished SPM either, but the 360 takes up so much of my time.[/quote]The 360 has obnoxious attach rates, probably always will - though once people start jumping on price drops (the less hardcore), those numbers will probably go down a bit. I believe based on the top 4 or 5 from each console, 360 is around 3.5, Wii and PS3 are around 2.9. I'd have to go search for those again, though.

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=7153043&highlight=2.86#post7153043

360: 3.6
Wii: 2.9
PS3: 2.86

Based on the top 5 titles for each console.
 
Botticus, I think it would be very interesting to see the GC, Xbox and PS2 sales in the same time frame compared to these current sales.
 
[quote name='seanr1221']Botticus, I think it would be very interesting to see the GC, Xbox and PS2 sales in the same time frame compared to these current sales.[/quote]Hm... that would be Nov 2001 to June 2002, I think? I'm just an interested observer of all these stats, don't keep the numbers myself, so I may have to go to VG Chartz for that (should be fairly reliable as its publicly reported by half year). I'll see what I can dig up.
 
From what we know of last gen, I'm guessing you could replace the Wii with the PS2, and the PS3 with the Cube, and you'll see similar graphs.

In lieu of a pretty graph, here are the numbers from financial statements of the half years. Two caveats:

1) The old numbers are for all of North America, but generally Canada numbers are proportionate to US, so just bump up all of the current numbers by 10%, and it's comparable.
2) I believe the old reported numbers are shipments, not necessarily sell-through, so if anything they're higher than actual sales.

November 2006 -> March 2007
PS3: 238k/month (launch period)
360: 466k/month
Wii: 422k/month (launch period)

April 2007 -> June 2007
PS3: 87k/month
360: 176k/month
Wii: 360k/month

March 2002 (covering October 2001-> March 2002)
PS2: 2.35 million -> 391k/month
XB: 2.24 million -> 448k/month (launch period)
GC: 2.22 million -> 444k/month (launch period)

September 2002 (covering April 2002 -> September 2002)
PS2: 7.35 million -> 1.2 million/month (this seems horribly wrong, but I guess when you sell a hundred million consoles, it happens)
XB: 1.91 million -> 318k/month
GC: 1.00 million -> 166k/month
 
Despite whatever the costs of - to be wasted in the future, extra production facilities, I figure it has to be worth it. Marketshare is so very important, and their competitors are already more aggressive in this field by selling their console at a loss.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']Despite whatever the costs of - to be wasted in the future, extra production facilities, I figure it has to be worth it. Marketshare is so very important, and their competitors are already more aggressive in this field by selling their console at a loss.[/quote]The costs of starting up those facilities and keep them running producing stock that is just stock piling is not going to help you at all. Then you'll have a ton of systems that were expensive to produce and you'll be selling at a lower costs after a price drop, etc. It's simply not wise.

Market share isn't everything--in fact, your own point that their competetors are losing money on their systems one of the big reasons they're not ramping up production 3 or 4 fold. The Wii needs to continue to be profitable; being wreckless with starting production lines will hurt or kill that.
 
[quote name='botticus']The 360 has obnoxious attach rates, probably always will - though once people start jumping on price drops (the less hardcore), those numbers will probably go down a bit. [/QUOTE]

Hard to say if it will go down. I'm waiting for a price drop, and will probably buy a lot of games as I'll both be catching up on old games that have hopefully dropped in price as well, and the new games that interest me.

More casual gamers may buy them and buy less games, but I imagine that will be off set by current and new owners buying a lot of $20-30 games after price drops.
 
[quote name='Snake2715']Wait what?

why were you there? That store (for a while) wasnt even acknowledged on their system.

Thats getting pretty close to home.[/QUOTE]

I was visting friends that live there. We stopped by the walmart for some grocery's and saw the sign in the window. My friend wanted another Wii controller and so I wandered in to see if they still had Wii's, but I couldn't bring myself to purchase one since it's not in my budget right now. :(

I was hoping that all Gamestops got shipments this week so maybe next month when I can afford one they will be everywhere. That's the first store I've ever seen that had Wiis in stock.
 
[quote name='Dr Mario Kart']If Oprah ever catches wind of it, you may never get one, EVER.[/quote]

lol, oprah.
SHES GONNA GIVE AWAY 10 WIIs TO EVERYBODY IN THE AUDIENCE!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top