Nintendo says that Wii production is at an all-time high, but that massive consumer demand means it still might not be able to satisfy all punters hoping to get their hands on one this holiday.
“Nintendo has continually raised the production levels of the Wii hardware,” said Reggie Fils-Aime, the company’s US president.
“We’re now producing 2.4 million units a month worldwide. Last year, we made 1.6 million a month. So we’ve made a 33% increase,” he told the LA Times.
“One of our competitors projects they will sell ten million consoles worldwide this year. For us, that’s three months of production,” he added, in what could be viewed as a cheeky dig at rival Sony.
And what advice did he offer for shoppers hoping to score a Wii this Christmas?
“We’re producing an unprecedented level of hardware to try to meet demand… Look at retailer circulars. Go to their websites. We’re flowing products into stores on a very regular basis. Once you see it on the shelf, you ought to buy it.
“While we’re bringing 50% higher level of supply into the market this holiday, we don’t know if the demand will be even higher than that.”
Nintendo’s undoubtedly selling Wiis like nobody’s business, but it has also been accused in the past of trying to manufacture demand by hyping up the possibility of shortages. So, how difficult is it to pick up a Wii at the moment?
We’ve had a look around the net and found numerous Wii bundles available immediately from specialist retailers like Game and Gamestation, as well as from online specialists Amazon.co.uk and Play.com.
We couldn’t find the option to purchase the console online at a number of supermarkets, but it would take you a little longer to get hold of one from Tesco, which says Wii consoles are normally dispatched within 21 days.
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