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What exactly is the reason behind the limited Wii supply?

P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
All I can say is that I still don't have one. I have my $300 gift card from Best Buy and I'm still ****ing waiting. Well, it's $260 now because I was lucky enough to find a Wiimote for sale*, but damn I'm waiting. I'm not like that shmuck above who claims to suddenly lose interest because he couldn't find one--I'm waiting and I'm hating it but holy hell if I'm not going to get one because they're shipping slow.


*Interesting note: my Wiimote that I bought had an orginal wrist strap in the packaging. I like to have the original stuff, but it is anecdotal evidence of how slowly their product is being distributed.
 
F

flammie

Member
The CPU and GPU of the Wii might use the same instruction sets as the Gamecube, but they are still on a smaller process and at a higher clock frequency. This means they had to redesign/shrink the chips and wait for the yields to improve at whatever fabs they are using. They probably were worried they would suffer from Gamecube like demand, and didn't have reserve enough wafer starts at the chip manufacturers for their CPU/GPU. Once they realized the Wii demand was sufficiently high, they increased production, but there can be a 3-6 month lead time before production can really ramp up.
 
M

MindCollizion

Member
pikmin-2-3.jpg


It takes time to grow Pikmin, and then they have to pluck them all one by one!
 
D

Dave Long

Banned
DyobolikaL. said:
demand alone can't be the reason .. I call b/s
Click to expand...

I disagree, since I keep hearing about them showing up at my local stores but by the time I get there, they're all gone. I think they're simply selling everything they can make and put on shelves.

I do think there's a strong possibility that more systems are ending up in Japan than the US and Europe, but that's because we still don't know how many Wiis were sold in the US in January.
 
A

aeolist

Banned
The Wii launched with what was probably more units on store shelves than any other launch in the history of games. They also did it in all three major regions of the world essentially at the same time. Since then they have been selling as many as they can make and the huge sales numbers show that they're making quite a few.

They're doing a better job of this than either of their competitors.
 
M

MacGuffin

Member
I am a rep for a Toy Company and I work in WalMart and Targets a lot. I was in Wal-Mart making sure everything was looking good and stocked when over the loud speaker they were like "We just got 4 Nintendo Wii in, get one for your honey for Valentin... oh wait... we just sold one, only three left!"

They were sold out 10 minutes later.
 
B

big_z

Member
PepsimanVsJoe said:
I don't give a shit about that.
I would like to purchase the system, I can not find the system, thus the bitching.
Click to expand...


It's not that hard to get one you just have to earn that shit. Sony wants you to get a second career to buy a ps3, nintendo wants you to camp out all night.
 
D

Drensch

Member
There is a greater supply of Wii than any near-launch system ever.
Click to expand...

Yes.


But just like the DS there are the 3 major territories with major demand, that's all there is to it. Lots of people wnat them, lots of people are getting the, yet there are still more who want them. Or to make it simple Sweedishrodeo had it right "Demand".
 
S

soundwave05

Member
My guess is its the optical drive for the system that is causing manufacturing to run behind.

The disc drive for the Wii is actually more exotic/expensive than the one in the 360, I think they ran into some manufacturing problems.

There's also worldwide demand to account for. Nintendo sold nearly 500,000 Wiis in January in Japan alone ... that has to have an impact on what NA + Europe got for January.
 
Joei

Joei

Member
One thing I can suggest is to stop by a local video game store like Gamestop, EB, etc. and talk with the people there and maybe find out when they get their usual shipments in. A handful of times since launch I've went to a local Gamestop on Sunday's and they've always had a few (which usually sold out before the end of the day). They lady told me they typically recieved shipments on the weekends and if I ever wanted a Wii to just hit them up a few weekends in a row or talk to her about getting one.

And I really want to get one and should be within a month or so (money issues), I just wish their were more games out for it. :(

Which is why I am quite surprised there is such a huge demand for it when the game selection isn't all that impressive.
 
T

TigersFan

Member
It's also an after-effect of the worldwide launch. People were all goo goo and gaa gaa about how everyone needed worldwide launches. People ARE pissed at Sony for delaying their European launch, but in the end, launching in more places means less units at each of those places.

If the PS3 had launched in Europe too, I imagine the shortages in America and Japan would have lasted longer than 3 weeks. Worldwide launch is nice and all, but it also kinda makes things suck.
 
D

DjangoReinhardt

Thinks he should have been the one to kill Batman's parents.
Give Nintendo a break: it's the first time since Christmas '96 that people are trying to purchase a Nintendo console.
 
P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
My Best Buy apparently had 9 of them yesterday. That was the day I went to the OTHER Best Buy (across town).

Damn them. Wii I am coming.
 
Alex

Alex

Member
You can claim artificial demand, but I picked up one recently, while I was buying FF6.

This did not occur at any set time, there were no warnings or no campouts, it happened at like 6:50 PM on a Thursday night, they set out a stack of Wii's in Walmart, bout fifteen of them, and those ****ers sold out within like three minutes.

Granted, that may not mean much nationwide, but I've never had a problem buying a machine before 1.) The DS lite (this holiday season, not at launch) and 2.) The Wii.

Nintendo is doing something right. I like mine so far, but I'm not really enamored with the controls in Zelda, I want to turn that damn fairy off IT DOESN'T DO ANYTHING but I think if I do, I have to use analog aiming for projectiles. =/
 
L

lips

Member
Dr_Cogent said:
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.
Click to expand...

time to cry .. because ps3 is $400 in japan.
 
P

PantherLotus

Professional Schmuck
dskillzhtown said:
Circuit City, Best Buy and Target are all supposed to have them Sunday.
Click to expand...

Can you confirm this with an ad for Best Buy? It might be my best chance ever to actually get one.
 
D

DIrtyWeasel

Member
PantherLotus said:
Can you confirm this with an ad for Best Buy? It might be my best chance ever to actually get one.
Click to expand...
I don't know if this is true for all Best Buys, but I heard my local store say that they hold shipments to sell them on Sundays. You should be calling your stores on Saturday nights and ask if they have them in stock for the next day. This weeks ad should be up within the next few hours on Bestbuy.com.
 
H

Hairyiguana

Member
Its probably hard to produce over a million of any kind of tech in a month. Nintendo doesn't want to open up more factories and then when the demand cools not have any way of justifying those extra factories.

Nintendo is probably a little too conservative in that sense, but they probably know a little more about business of video games then forum goers give them credit for.

I don't know.
 
M

Moderation Unlimited

Banned
RubxQub said:
Artifical demand was probably their intent.

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

QFT...

Underproduced to hedge their bets and "give the appearance" of smashing success. The above anticipated demand bit them in the ass, though. Now, Nintendo, with their pathetic manufacturing capabilities, are feverishly trying to catch up.

I can't believe it is taking them so long to produce a significant amount. I asked both my local Walmart and Best Buy and they say they haven't received any shipments since early January. NOTHING. That is just ridiculous.

I live around Towson, MD if you are wondering.
 
D

Drensch

Member
QFT...

Underproduced to hedge their bets and "give the appearance" of smashing success. The above anticipated demand bit them in the ass, though. Now, Nintendo, with their pathetic manufacturing capabilities, are feverishly trying to catch up.
Click to expand...

Of course if it weren't for the fact that:

There is a greater supply of Wii than any near-launch system ever.
Click to expand...

You'd be right.
 
T

Terrell

Member
Mato said:
That's as much as they can make?
Click to expand...
I challenge anyone to name a console that REQUIRED a 1 million+ production rate just to meet demand mere months after launch. Go ahead and give it your best shot.
Face it, NONE of the major players would have been prepared for the kind of demand that has beset the Wii. Let's quit pointing the finger at Nintendo like they're some sort of incompetant boobs when we all know what's gone on with the other 2 major players in this race with less of an at-launch demand.
And I want one as much as the next guy, but finding more fab plants to create this hardware is no easy task, and we should all stop kidding ourselves that it's as easy as dumping the parts in front of some warehouse door and handing out shiny nickels to the factory workers to assemble these things.
 
Eteric Rice

Eteric Rice

Member
Someone on another board I frequent suggested that the companies that Nintendo paid to make the accelorometers (sp?) in the Wii-mote and Nunchuck haven't been able to make enough. I forget how many both require, but someone figured that they'd need to make millions to keep up.

Just a thought.
 
M

mj1108

Member
Nintendo is doing something right -- and from the looks of this thread there's some people who will come up with any excuse to try and spin it into something it isn't.
 
E

Earthstrike

Member
Draft said:
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.
Click to expand...


No, this is wrong.

Nintendo is a company and as a company it will always try to make the decisions that give it the most profit. The Nintendo wii as a product can be produced ith a profit on each unit. As you increase the units produced per time span you decrease the profit per wii and you may decrease net profit. Why? Because as you produce any amount of an item it takes sufficiently more resources than before to produce the new load. This is known as a marginal cost.

The cost of opening up a new factory, hiring a whole new staff, purchasing the resources to assemble the wii and setting up all the infrastructure to perform these actions do not outweight the profit of these wii's that would be sold. Some may think that as long as they're producing wii's and profit off them (or sell them at a minimal loss with an expected long-run attach rate) that it must be a fiscally good decision. However the fixed costs of this last minute new factory, new staff, labour involved in disassociation of staff, loss of interest on purchased goods (land), etc may be at such a level that when divided among the total number of wiis produced by that factory, we end up witha grossly negative number.

What people in this thread are trying to implicate about Nintendo is that they lack the capacity to make basic economic decisions. However, the reality about Nintendo's financial situation tells us they're very GOOD at making economic decisions and that therefore, their production capacity most probably represents the current maximum in both long-run and short-run profit when compared to other alternatives.
 
P

Pud

Banned
Geez, it's not like there is a "LUDICROUS SPEED" lever at their factories! Wait, artificial demand? :lol :lol
spaceballs_1.jpg
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
maybe the

'artifacts on the screen' issue is a larger one than has been advertised by nintendo and they are fixing a fundamental design flaw with the system?
 
I

iapetus

Scary Euro Man
1. Nintendo suck at manufacturing hardware.
2. Nintendo can't keep up with the crazy demand! Everyone wants one! Maybe two!
3. It's an artificial shortage deliberately planned by Nintendo in a cunning scheme to reduce their own profits.
4. The supply isn't limited, but they're all being kept in a secret warehouse by the Illuminati.

Take your pick.
 
S

Stumpokapow

listen to the mad man
Dr_Cogent said:
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.
Click to expand...

And if Saturn was selling cars for $4000, I'm sure you'd see Saturns sell more. There's no need to mention Nintendo in every topic about Sony and there's no reason to mention Sony in every topic about Nintendo.
 
E

elostyle

Never forget! I'm Dumb!
The demand for both their home and portable lines is way higher than what they moved in the last 2 generations. Obviously they didn't have production capacities stashed aways somewhere for years.

Who knows where the bottlenecks are. I'm sure it's easy enough to obtain large numbers of the cpu and gpu for them, but the effort needed for assembly and packaging etc is still largely the same whether the integrated components are cutting edge or not.

It takes time to ramp up facilities, personnel and negotiate new contracts.
 
tornjaw

tornjaw

Member
UltimaKilo said:
Take an economics class. Demand exceeds supply. I don't know, you should be able to find one with a little work. You should have already had one if you really wanted one.
Click to expand...
.
 
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