Analyst: Wii shortages could last until 2008
Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian thinks Nintendo is producing nearly 1.5 million systems a month, but that might not be enough to meet demand.
With the Nintendo Summit wrapped up, Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian dropped a note to investors to recap what he saw as key takeaways from the event. One of those takeaways was a "good news, bad news" situation for gamers still on the hunt for a Wii.
"We believe that Nintendo may be near its targeted monthly Wii production of approximately 1.5 million units per month, based on comments made by Nintendo, as well as retailers such as GameStop," Sebastian said. "Based on our retail channel checks, demand still appears to exceed supply, and we believe that shortages could persist through the remainder of the year, including the key holiday period."
Sebastian also said that the third-party titles "confirm a casual game focus for Wii/DS." He additionally suggested that Nintendo was more aggressively pursuing third-party support for its systems than it has in the past, based on conversations he had during the summit.
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308 Comments
I have no trouble finding Wiis, which has led me to believe that I spend way too much time in electronics / gaming stores.
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I had to hunt mine down for weeks. Thankfully I have enough time on my hands to make the phonecalls & track the websites locally to have gotten one. Still, I had to drive 50 miles from my hometown in a snowstorm back in Feb, and when I got there mine was one of 4 in stock. I figured by now, the shortages wouldve eased-up. Im SO glad I didnt wait for that to happen, though. Im lovin my Wii...the VC games alone make it worth the price. And when some more quality Wii-Specific games come to market later this year...Im so loving it!!
For those of you yet to get your system, stay persistant. It IS worth all the hype, unlike a certain Sony machine that's gathering dust everywhere. (Northern Illinois, fyi)
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Finding Numchucks and controllers is a pain in the arse, there still out of stock in are town, and when they are wii's we get signs saying "In stock hurry" then they go in a few hours, lucky I got mine on launch, bit lame for everyone who doesn't have one, but you would think they would be able to make more machines, for such a small simple console.
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Typical Nintendo. Can't even make more factories to produce more Wii's. AS for those who say shortages are artificial. That is probably better as when big titles come out gamers will go out and rush to buy a console so an increase in supply is needed.
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I have a Wii. Had to stand in line for 14 hours for one, but I still got it.
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The need for Wiis are finally slowing down on demand here in good ole Missouri...
Or is that everywhere?
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well its good to know the wii is still selling like chocolate.
"I saw run and russy from run's house playing the wii!" i never seen run being so interested in it,lol"
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I saw it too!!!! It got memore hyped to by a Wii! It tickled me seeing them enjoying themselves on the Wii. Especially considering Run was supposed to be reprimanding his son, but instead got in on the Wii-goodness.
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@yukoAsho
I don't know about that. They are producing 1.5mil per month. If every retailer in the world gets around 5, or even less, that would easily account for the units produced. And I think it's safe to say that Japan is getting a larger % compared to the rest of the world.
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In the UK they are STILL 'none'. One day maybe m friends & I will have one of these little consoles. Until then we will read about continuing reviews/previews about a console none of us have.
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Targets and Wal-Marts in Tennessee seem to have Wii Accessories, Nun-Chuck & Remote.
but still, to this day I have not seen a Wii in store yet, I've seen plenty of PS3's, so if your looking for one, we've got plenty.
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I have a X-Box 360 and PS3 now all thats missing is the Wii to complete the collection. My are they a pain in the butt to find. My buddy finally got one after several weeks of looking. The good news is he got the Wii ....the bad news is now he has to now find some extra controllers. Just like the system the controllers are also a pain in the butt to find. I'm not too worried though I'm hopping that when i do pick mine up there will be more games available to fufill my gaming needs. I wish I waited on purchasing my PS3 ...
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I just got mine, its awesome, sucks alot more people wont be able to experience it.
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Makes sense to me. I love mine. Best system, high-def graphics or no.
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SemiMaster - Oh I agree. When Gamestops are barely getting more than 5 at a time (in major metropolitan areas like Miami, FL and Jacksonville, FL), you know there's a problem. I do think that at least some of it is artificial, but when you consider how Japan has just unilaterally rejected everything else, one has to wonder if they're not getting 80-plus-percent of the shipments.
Either way, I doubt Nintendo is unhappy about the hype this "shortage" generates.
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Man I'm glad I pre-ordered mine at launch. I still wouldn't have one if I didn't.
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It sucks for you guys who doesn't have a Wii yet because I already own one !!!
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I was at the Futureshop online site on Monday. They were showing 0 Wii on Sunday, but had that changed to about 20 the next day (shipment just arrived). I refreshed the page twice and it was down to 0. The demand still seems to be strong in most areas. I'm sure they'd love to make more but that's easier said than done.
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It never ceases to amaze me how, even with the internet at their disposal to compare with other areas, how ignorant people can be of everything outside their own living space. Everybody I see decrying an artificial shortage tends to say the same thing: "They aren't where I live, so they must not exist!". Ever possibly think there are thousands of other stores in the country that might, just possibly, be getting them instead of you? Now, I would agree that that is a bad supply decision. But just because you haven't seen the Wii on shelves, and have had a slow supply in your store(s) of choice, does not mean that everywhere is suffering from the same problem, as you could tell if you simply looked at other people's posts.
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Why don't they just increas production to 2.3 million a month, and this would not hurt profits, because they would also sell more games tho fans who have not got a wii yet. Or 3 million! And haven't they only sold 2.5 million and are making 1.5 million a month, it doesn't make sense, or that is only in the US.
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I might buy my wii in the next two mounths
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Wii is the BoMB System... I had to wake up at 3:00am 11/25/06 to buy one, but it was well worth it...
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go to the wal-mart in myrtle beach, south carolina and get your wii....nobody buys them there because all of the shoppers are tourists...those were the first wii's i had personally seen on a shelf lol
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MarcusMaximus04 "I think you're failing to notice how many wiis have sold so far. They are almost catching up to the total number of xbox 360's sold since launch even though it's been out a year longer. And Ithus: just look at the numbers, it's pretty clear that the wii really IS in that high of demand."
I've seen the numbers. I'm talking about the current supply, from the past few months. Not since launch. Normally production and shipment increases as the months go by, after the initial influx. Not so with the Wii. If they're making 1.5 million units a month..than where are they?! Exactly...
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To all the people saying the shortage is artificial(especially lithus):
I think you're failing to notice how many wiis have sold so far. They are almost catching up to the total number of xbox 360's sold since launch even though it's been out a year longer. And Ithus: just look at the numbers, it's pretty clear that the wii really IS in that high of demand.
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Hellooo it clearly says up above that Nintendo is making it's targetted production confirmed by retailers. They're doing all they can it just isn't enough. They wouldn't purposely not have enough consoles to sell for the key holiday period.
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I played my first Wii this weekend...it's ok. The control scheme is cool for sports games (everyone's playing Wii sports because it's the only thing out and works the best with the controller). But I think most people are buying the Wii because they think it's trendy. But if they don't get the strong 3rd party support, the trend will end soon. I’m still bitter about my Cube purchase.
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YukoAsho : Well, I went and got my own Wii yesterday, why? Because it was the weekend of graduation and Memorial Day, the only reason I was able to get 1 out of 3 units they got in the past 3 weeks is what the woman at customer service said to me. Now 3 units in 3 weeks is REALLY weak in my opinion. And true, Japan may be getting the majority, but I still believe that this shortage is artificial and the fact that I was able to get one yesterday was nothing short of a miracle and straight up dumb luck. Just because I now have one doesn't mean I still don't believe this shortage is artificial.
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A marketing ploy by Nintendo. They're producing less units to give the illusion that they're in high demand. Reminds me of the story about Circuit City managers being told by corporate to keep the majority of PS3 stock off shelves and in the warehouse to give the appearance of them selling out. Just like Sony is saying they're pulling the 20 gig because the 60gig is selling "so well". Bah! Wrong! It's because no ones buying the 20gig at all due to it being completely inferior. Nice try Sony and Nintendo. We're on to you.
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I'd like to get a wii. But they'll need to get more games out that appeal to me first. right now their catalog is pretty sparse.
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glad I already got mine. But seriously, they're producing 1.5 mill a month and it's still not enough, looks like nintendo's doing well
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glad i got mine at launch lol i told everyone this would happan this is how nintendo is gonna beat 360 with system sales christmas time armageddon of wiis.
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I'm glad I went ahead and got my cousin a Wii for his birthday months ago.
I really can't believe the shortage will last that long. Many Best Buys in my area are advertising they have Wiis and enough of them to go around. I guess it depends on where you live.
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Wii seems like a nice little machine.. i might get one b4 then.
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I guess I have little choice but to wait and see.
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I want my Wii.
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hovan316
"Get a Gamecube and you won't see a difference..."
Spoken like a true fanboy/graphics whore/non-Wii owner
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SemiMaster - I wonder about that. More than likely, the VAST majority of them are going to Japan. Their sales make ours seem tame for Nintendo, and considering their downright obsession with brain training clones, I don't see Nintendo's popularity wavering there.
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well its good to know the wii is still selling like chocolate.
"I saw run and russy from run's house playing the wii!" i never seen run being so interested in it,lol"
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go Nintendo! The wii is selling great!!!
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@QueefGiblet
Yeah, the Wii is more or less of a "wait-and-see" kinda thing.
Which sucks, but doesn't....however that works. With promising titles like Smash Bros., Mario Galaxy, H.A.M.M.E.R., Sadness, and all those other ones, it gives you a reason to get one now, before the second rush comes.
Mind you, it also sucks because their just taunting you with "Looky here!" and you try and get it just to be rejected....y'know "You've gotta wait for another year!"
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stop buying the wii it sucks geez,............(''thinks'' muahaha ounce everyone stops buying the wii, ill be able to go buy one myself, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)
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At least from where I'm sitting, I saw shortages until about a month ago, but now it's easy to get a hold of a Wii. I don't know how it is in the rest of the world, but I have a hard time believing that the shortages will last that long.
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2008? That sucks
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So that means I won't find for Christmas a $200 Wii or a $250 Wii with two games bundled? (Sight...)
I don't know if I can wait too much more to get one of those little machines, but every nickle I can save makes me feel so good... Yeah, I'm cheap.
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if try to get one, i still go to GameStop, EB Games, Best buy,etc. IT DOESN'T MATTER.
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we all know the only reason wiiis selling is because its 250 dont lie to urself god
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KickinIt_ftw.. i like your comment but this shouldn't reprsent all major chains... i work in the electronics dept. of Zellers (comparable to k-mart but better) and we have an entire 4' section for ps3... yes most of it is being used for psp (even though the psp has its own 4' cabinet) and yes the ps3 space right now is small... but i have been getting many more games recently and am in need of more shelves to put the games (we have 16 facings available right now) so i don't believe we can compare it to the dreamcast just yet...
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I'd consider buying one if it had games worth buying it for.
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