It was hard to obtain Nintendo’s Wii in 2006, but even now it is hard to come across a Nintendo Wii in a retail store. There’s still a crazy demand and a shortage of hardware. Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime told Wired.com in an interview that “We are passionately upset about the lack of product relative to demand.”
He doesn’t seem to be too upset about the bragging rights. According to the Regginator, the average Wii system on a store shelf in the United States only sits there for an hour before being purchased. I don’t doubt that at all. But I wonder where the root of the problem really lies: in supply or in customer demand.
Fils-Aime says that production is controlled by Nintendo’s global headquarters in Japan, and apparently the North American Nintendo team has been pushing for more systems for the US.
According to TGdaily, of the 1.8 million Wii units rolled out per month, North America gets around 720,000.
What do you think of this one hour shelf life claim? And where do you think the Wii supply problem stems from?
