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[ElyrionX]

Has there been any confirmation or any news about what exactly is behind the Wii's supply issue? We all know that the hardware in the machine itself shouldn't be the issue since it's basically older hardware.

I have heard talk that apparently, Nintendo relies on a single supplier for the Wii sensor-bar and that is the reason behind the current shortages. Any truth to that?

 

[Pureauthor]

All I know is they're selling 'em in Orchard Road for S$590 a pop.

 

[RevenantKioku]

Only so much plastic.

 

[Sweedishrodeo]

"demand"

 

[RubxQub]

Artifical demand was probably their intent.

Only problem is that the demand is much higher then they anticipated.

 

[krypt0nian]

It's hard getting 250 Pikmin to live in one without civil war breaking out.

 

[ziran]

according to nintendo it's not a manufacturing issue, they're currently making 1 million per month. there will be 7 million made by the end of march and 6 million shipped. i think it's a distribution to retail problem.

nintendo likes second class stamps.

 

[Jokeropia]

Well we haven't gotten any NPD figures for January yet so we don't know what the case is in the US, but in Japan at least it's because the demand is through the roof.

 

[Mato]

That's as much as they can make?

 

[psy18]

The usual:

pikmins
plastics
paper
gyro
sensors
straps

 

[RubxQub]

according to nintendo it's not a manufacturing issue, they're currently making 1 million per month. there will be 7 million made by the end of march and 6 million shipped. i think it's a distribution to retail problem.

nintendo likes second class stamps.

Wasn't the 1 million a month figure supposed to take effect in April?

 

[Spokeys]

I have no idea but it's gotten to the point where I have no interest in picking one up anymore. I mean, the 360 launch was pretty crazy but this is a whole different story. I was able to find and purchase a 360 in the beginning of January 2006 but I still have yet to even see a Wii in stock.

 

[Mr. Pointy]

Gnomes.

 

[RubxQub]

I have no idea but it's gotten to the point where I have no interest in picking one up anymore. I mean, the 360 launch was pretty crazy but this is a whole different story. I was able to find and purchase a 360 in the beginning of January 2006 but I still have yet to even see a Wii in stock.

Your "January" figure is quite incorrect.

 

[RevenantKioku]

I have no idea but it's gotten to the point where I have no interest in picking one up anymore. I mean, the 360 launch was pretty crazy but this is a whole different story. I was able to find and purchase a 360 in the beginning of January 2006 but I still have yet to even see a Wii in stock.

Yeah.
I said that with the 360 and then bought one last April when I finally found one.

 

[The Innocent X]

Nintendo's conservatism in business matters.

 

[Spokeys]

Your "January" figure is quite incorrect.

Hmmm, why so? Was I just lucky or something then?

 

[ElyrionX]

Seems like nobody took note of the sensor-bar issue I raised in my original post. But just to give it further credibility, a friend of mine told me that particular piece of news and his brother works in a major investment bank. If you know anything about the financial world, these analysts from the huge banks get direct access to high-level management figures of the companies that they cover. I'm not talking about small-fry securities companies like Wedbush Morgan. I'm talking about bulge-bracket global investment banks.

 

[RubxQub]

Hmmm, why so? Was I just lucky or something then?

The 360 was having stock issues at least until March, possibly April.

Having a hard time finding a concrete article somewhere about it, but you'll have to trust me I guess

 

[Spokeys]

Ah, ok. Yea, in the long run I guess I just lucked out with the 360 then. Just wish I could do the same with the Wii...

 

[dkeane]

Seems like nobody took note of the sensor-bar issue I raised in my original post. But just to give it further credibility, a friend of mine told me that particular piece of news and his brother works in a major investment bank. If you know anything about the financial world, these analysts from the huge banks get direct access to high-level management figures of the companies that they cover. I'm not talking about small-fry securities companies like Wedbush Morgan. I'm talking about bulge-bracket global investment banks.

It's difficult to believe the sensor bar is hard to produce since it's a couple LEDs and a wire. I just think demand is still high from the holidays.

 

[Cosmozone]

As far as I know they didn't get much of a head start as planned. Controller issues, and surely not only because of the wrist strap. And those online issues. They were lucky Sony had even more problems or they would've been pretty much behind. I'm pretty sure the console was stealthily delayed and was originally supposed to come out earlier. The PS3 *could* have come out in spring after all.

 

[ziran]

Wasn't the 1 million a month figure supposed to take effect in April?

when the q3 results came out nintendo said they're manufacturing 1 million per month up to march, and that monthly production will increase in april.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5423332&postcount=1

so production is going to be over 1 million per month starting april.

 

[Labombadog]

The usual:

pikmins
plastics
paper
gyro
sensors
straps
Pedobear, because they are raping the competition

Fixed

 

[suaveric]

Seems like nobody took note of the sensor-bar issue I raised in my original post. But just to give it further credibility, a friend of mine told me that particular piece of news and his brother works in a major investment bank. If you know anything about the financial world, these analysts from the huge banks get direct access to high-level management figures of the companies that they cover. I'm not talking about small-fry securities companies like Wedbush Morgan. I'm talking about bulge-bracket global investment banks.

How hard is it to make a sensor bar? It a piece of plastic with a few lights in it. That can not possibly be the component holding things back.

 

[RubxQub]

when the q3 results came out nintendo said they're manufacturing 1 million per month up to march, and that monthly production will increase in april.
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=5423332&postcount=1

so production is going to be over 1 million per month starting april.

I was referring to this piece of news:

http://gonintendo.com/?p=12281

I much prefer your news, however :lol

 

[DrM]

Pikmins cannot reproduce so fast. Global warming is slowing reproduction process down .

 

[the year 20XX]

They ran out of defective and returned Gamecubes to refurbish.

< /obvious troll >

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Demand is making a huge difference as well.

 

[LittleTokyo]

I found several Wii's in mid-late January. Probably a right place at the right time deal though. I still don't see them around regularly by any means.

 

[Draft]

Apparently Nintendo's manufacturing arm is run by Iwata's dim-witted brother in law, or something. Cause it's not just the Wii. The DS is also way to hard to find, and it's not a demand problem (ie- they literally COULDN'T meed demand because it's so high.) Apple never had problems to this degree with the iPod. I realize they might have been ambushed a bit by how high demand is, but goddamn, you're a multibillion dollar international company. Wake the **** up and rent some more factories.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Why does there have to be something beyond the simple explanation that demand is apparently high in all three major territories & Nintendo are a conservative company who likely didn't produce/stockpile enough to satisfy that demand?

 

[Dave Long]

I think they simply can't make and ship enough into retail to meet the demand for the system.

 

[LittleTokyo]

Yes you can argue that demand is real high, but the real question is... why can't Nintendo meet demand, or at least come closer? The Wii hardware, as previously stated, can't be *that* hard to produce. My guess is initially the controller strap recall presented some issues. But there has to be something else behind the shortage. In January, I was willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, but now it's mid February and both the Wii and DS Lite are still hard to find.

 

[Cosmonaut X]

Yes you can argue that demand is real high, but the real question is... why can't Nintendo meet demand, or at least come closer? The Wii hardware, as previously stated, can't be *that* hard to produce. My guess is initially the controller strap recall presented some issues. But there has to be something else behind the shortage. In January, I was willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, but now it's mid February and both the Wii and DS Lite are still hard to find.

Everyone keeps on saying this as though it's an indisputable fact (some of the 1Up crew being the worst offenders when it comes to "Wii is just a Cube in a white case! Why can't they make more?!! LOLZ!"). While the system is clearly an evolution of the GC hardware, it isn't simply a GC chipset in a new case - surely the controllers, custom slot-loader & scaled-down chipset at least make the manufacturing process more time-consuming and complex than some people seem to think it is?

 

[Ash Sparrow]

All Wiis had to be recalled and fitted with current gen graphics

JK like seriously jk

 

[ziran]

Yes you can argue that demand is real high, but the real question is... why can't Nintendo meet demand, or at least come closer? The Wii hardware, as previously stated, can't be *that* hard to produce. My guess is initially the controller strap recall presented some issues. But there has to be something else behind the shortage. In January, I was willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, but now it's mid February and both the Wii and DS Lite are still hard to find.

if wii is selling everything nintendo is shipping, and they're sticking to their figures, it's because of the scheduling and nintendo being conservative (i.e. max profits).

the manufacture for wii up to march was organised months ago, so increasing the production isn't simply an issue making more, it's a case of seeing what the demand is, talking to suppliers about more parts, and weaving it into the production line. don't forget we're still at launch, and nintendo is shipping 6 million by the end of march, which is a lot.

also, the manufacture isn't by nintendo themselves, it's outsourced to china, so there's an added step in the chain.

i think nintendo will be re-evaluating the situation now, which will include talking to retailers/distributors about what they expect to be purchasing in the next few months and anticipating demand accordingly, with consideration for what titles will be released.

efficiency leads to profitability, so having to stop production, or lower it, isn't a good strategy.

 

[tekneek2k6]

Another difference is that unlike Microsoft, Nintendo isn't going to eat the cost of having the systems shipped by air to the U.S. The effects of increased production aren't immediately seen at retail

 

[NotWii]

Hahaha the sensor bar is the simplest part of the Wii Hardware.
That's probably the holdup

 

[Dave Long]

Yes you can argue that demand is real high, but the real question is... why can't Nintendo meet demand, or at least come closer? The Wii hardware, as previously stated, can't be *that* hard to produce. My guess is initially the controller strap recall presented some issues. But there has to be something else behind the shortage. In January, I was willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, but now it's mid February and both the Wii and DS Lite are still hard to find.

You can't go supporting a console launch with ten million units. What if you only sell a million? Companies have been felled by lesser mistakes.

It's one thing to have confidence in your product (six million over five months). It's entirely another to be in la la land.

 

[WrathOfOtaibah]

I used to find Wii units quite often in November and December. Now, they are completely out everywhere where I live.

I imagine its due to Nintendo taking the wait and see approach. I'm sure they are speeding up production but it will be a month or two until they are easy to find.

 

[FitzOfRage]

Yes you can argue that demand is real high, but the real question is... why can't Nintendo meet demand, or at least come closer? The Wii hardware, as previously stated, can't be *that* hard to produce. My guess is initially the controller strap recall presented some issues. But there has to be something else behind the shortage. In January, I was willing to give Nintendo the benefit of the doubt, but now it's mid February and both the Wii and DS Lite are still hard to find.

I imagine the strap presented almost no issue at all. Don't know why people think that was a major problem.

For starters, they didn't try to get retailers to return units with the old strap so they could be repackaged. They kepts the old ones moving through the channel, and let anyone that got one of the old ones know what steps to take if they wanted a replacement. And I'd bet the number of people that actually went through the process (which they said could be up to a couple of weeks) was relatively small.

And really, has anyone seen the comparison with the new straps? They didn't switch to jewel encrusted titanium. They're virtually identical. They added 0.4 millimeters in diameter.

Anyway, Nintendo has pretty much shown that it's not really a manufacturing issue. As someone mentioned, they announced they're making 7 million by the end of next month, but only plan on shipping 6 million.

Some of the problem initially extended from the fact that it's a much bigger hit than most people expected. I mean I posted a link to one of those old threads just 2 or 3 months before launch, and the responses are hillarious now since the consensus seemed to be Nintendo had screwed up almost everything they could - the price was too high, specs were too low, and the timing meant it would get cruished by Sony's PR machine.

But once it became apparant they had a hit on their hands, Nintendo has not decided to go to any expense to get as manty units into the hands of people as possible (they defintiely could have sold more if they started airlifting everything), but rather seems intent on increasing distribution at a measured pace. It's financially conservative, and they may also see some benefit in holding back (which is debatable)

 

[donny2112]

Demand > Supply => Wii being in limited supply.

 

[JohnsonUT]

International launch where all three regions actually want it. If the launch had been more staggered this would not be as bad.

 

[bumpkin]

"demand"

Beaten! :lol

Welcome to Economics 101.

 

[Pachinko]

Let's go back in time a bit and recall the traditional staggered launch strategy- you build a bunch of systems for japan and launch, trickle systems out over there stockpiling them for a north american launch 3-4 months later and then trickle units to both territories finally launching in europe almost a year after the japanese launch. The wii strategy involved that normally year long process occuring over less then 2 months. So instead of having say a million systems at launch in each territory and a couple million more over the following months devoted to each territory until production goes up a year later so everyone has adequite supply you have 3 territories splitting that initial manufactured batch of systems and then every month the shipment has to be split 3 ways. Factor that into the the demand which is likely the highest demand for any single videogame system ever and by the time the supply chain finally gets enoughsystems out there the next holiday season will be upon us. The breif repreive is going to be this summer, supply will finally match or exceed demand by a little bit and you'll all see wii's actually sitting on store shelves for the first time ever.

 

[Burnst]

Everyone keeps on saying this as though it's an indisputable fact (some of the 1Up crew being the worst offenders when it comes to "Wii is just a Cube in a white case! Why can't they make more?!! LOLZ!"). While the system is clearly an evolution of the GC hardware, it isn't simply a GC chipset in a new case - surely the controllers, custom slot-loader & scaled-down chipset at least make the manufacturing process more time-consuming and complex than some people seem to think it is?

I don't get it either. Even if it was older hardware (though we all know Hollywood and other things inside the box are made specifically for Wii), do people really expect you can plop out a couple of million units with the snap of a finger? I mean, it's not a paperclip or something..

Nintendo seems to produce exactly what that said they would. People can't accept the demand is just this big? The sensor bar issue seems like BS to me. There just is no issue, they made what they planned. Isn't Nintendo increasing production in April?

 

[Dr_Cogent]

Sony would be in the same position had they not priced themselves out of the competition. If PS3s were $400 you wouldn't be able to find them anywhere.

 

[goldenpp72]

It's a good question considering how 'last gen' the hardware is, im going to guess its the controllers and not the hardware inside the console (if there is a legitimate shortage that is)

 

[CowGirl]

Mom & Pop stores have been hoarding the stocks.