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Radioactive IT Where are Wii?
Radioactive IT Where are Wii? | Where are Wii? |
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| by Mike Bantick | |
| Sunday, 09 December 2007 | |
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Page 1 of 2 If you want a Nintendo Wii for Christmas, chances are you won’t see one on retail shelves – though Dick Smith Powerhouse informed me that their distribution centre is hoarding about 800, ready for release over the next few weeks. Retailer Harvey Norman also had a couple of units in stock, but advised getting in the car and heading in immediately. Nintendo are churning out 1.8 million Wii’s per month, attempting to keep up with world-wide demand, Twice now the expected forecast of sales has been lifted from 14 million units shifted by the end of March 2008 to the current expectation of 17.5 million. Speaking to CNN money , George Harrison, senior vice president of Nintendo America seems to voice what others are saying about the unexpected Wii phenomenon; "Normally we would come into the October-November-December time period with a warehouse pretty well stocked with hardware," Harrison said "But we never were able to achieve that this year because we were shipping and selling everything that we received from overseas." During the same CNN article a couple of analysts give their respective views on the shortage: Gartner analyst Van Baker believes the shortage keeps the Nintendo buzz high, whilst giving consumers that much vaunted “must have” feeling about the product. "There's enough inventory out there that people don't quit shopping for them. They may have to go to three or four different locations before they find one, but ultimately they do," Baker said. Meanwhile Brian O’Rouke, analyst for research firm In-Stat sits on the other side of the conspiracy fence;"They outsource their manufacturing. And qualifying contract manufacturers is a fairly time-consuming process," he said. It takes Nintendo five months to increase production from the time it makes the decision to do so, Harrison says. Demand for the Wii is likely to remain strong for at least the next two years, says O'Rourke. It is the cheapest of the current-generation consoles on the market and it appeals to a larger audience of casual gamers. This explanation appeals to my sensibilities more so than the so called clever distribution to keep buzz high idea. |
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