Register Hardware

Original URL: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/14/nintendo_wii_christmas_shortage/

Nintendo sounds Wii-free Xmas warning

By James Sherwood
Published Wednesday 14th November 2007 14:26 GMT

If you’re hoping for a Wii from Santa’s sack this Christmas, don’t get your hopes up, Nintendo has said. The console company today warned that there could be a worldwide shortage of its console this holiday season.

Despite the company already disappointing Wii fans by confirming that DVD support won’t be ready for the console by Christmas (http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2007/11/09/wii_dvd_playback_delayed/), news of a possible console shortage could send the high street into frenzy as hopeful buyers battle it out for a Wii.

Nintendo attempted to allay gamers’ fears - it claimed it’s working its factories at maximum production capacity. However, because “seasonality demand trends are being broken” and since “demand for Wii hardware globally has been unprecedented” then it’s possible that “demand for Wii hardware may outstrip supply”.

Except, according to many Register Hardware readers, it already has. Even now, well ahead of the Christmas buying surge, Wiis are hard to find.

At the time of writing, UK chain Game had no Wiis in stock. Argos' web store was out of them, as were the ten Argos stores in the London area. DSG's PCWorld and Dixons.co.uk sites didn't have any to offer, and John Lewis' website was no help either.

The company claimed it currently produces up to 1.8m Wiis each month and that it aims to have shipped 17.5m consoles around the world between April this year and March 2008 - 3.5m more than the company forecast back in April.