Last month, GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo said that they plan to "have a continued shortage this Christmas" on Nintendo's Wii console. He made things sound pretty dire for potential Wii owners:
"I don't see a near-term end in sight for Wii shortages, not unless they really ramp up supply. I think they've ramped it up 20 percent or so, but Nintendo is fairly cautious by nature. They ramped it up 20 and it's still evaporating."
Now, a different guy from GameStop, merchandising VP Bob McKenzie, says that they're confident that they'll meet Wii demand this Christmas. Which is it?
"It's been a unique ride for Nintendo to have the Wii going into a third year this November where the consumer may still be searching for it," said McKenzie to Multiplayer.
"Our look from Nintendo, though, is that it will be much, much better than it has been the last two years. I can’t say we will be in stock every day throughout the holiday season but I can tell you that the current flow we’ve seen coming from Nintendo on Wii hardware makes us very confident that we will meet the business model that we’ve got."
We weren't worried about Wii stock until DeMatteo said something about it last month. I think enough people have Wii consoles now that the demand won't be so high this holiday. If Nintendo truly is making more, Wii newbs should be fine this holiday season.
Be sure to check out the rest of the interview at Multiplayer, where McKenzie talks about the upcoming changes at GameStop.
Contest:
9:46 AM on 09.19.2008
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@Celica crazed, sorry to hear it bro, keep looking youll find it. I got mine the first week it came out, played it twice I think.
I'm still not sure how a company can increase production a mere 20% and save face. I guess Nintendo figures they are so damn awesome, people will wait forever to get a Wii, so the company might as well keep production down to reduce manufacturing overhead.