If you’ve been to your local videogame retailer to procure a PS3 or Wii you may have noticed that you could not procure the item at all because it wasn’t there. Both systems have been having shortages since December, when, according to the VP of merchandising at GameStop, Tony Bartel, the two sold much faster and better than anyone expected them to. He also says that these shortages won’t be stopping any time soon, and may last into summer.
“Obviously it’s a question we ask the platform holders constantly,” he noted when the shortages were brought up during an investor call. “I can tell you that we do anticipate we will be in this situation, at least with the PlayStation 3, for another couple months unfortunately because we could sell a lot more hardware than what we have on both the PS3 and Wii platform.”
He went on to explain that the only reason he’s been given for the shortages was the strong December sales, and that he believes the Wii’s shortages will stop before the PS3’s.
It seems that Sony’s and Nintendo’s price drops last year really did the trick. The question is why weren’t the two companies ready for the extra demand.
GameStop: Wii and PS3 shortages to last months [CVG]
