For those who’ve been interested in owning the Nintendo Wii since it launched last November, the pursuit has been something like hunting a great white whale. Although the equally anticipated Sony PlayStation 3 was the first to experience massive shortages, growing excitement over Nintendo’s motion sensitivity and lower price tag eventually made it the in-demand Christmas toy. It seems Nintendo simply wasn’t prepared, and after months and months of keeping quiet while consumers fumed, the company is finally admitting it has a problem.
In a recent Q&A hosted on Nintendo’s website, CEO and President Satoru Iwata apologized for the shortage, saying,
“We are sorry that we were unable to sufficiently forecast this kind of demand…Making a significant volume of the high-tech hardware, and making an additional volume, is not an easy task at all”
Finally, word from the top. Unfortunately, there may not be any end in sight. Iwata goes on to say,
“…when we clear one bottleneck for a production increase, we will face another one.”
Some hope exists. For one, the company is ramping up production as much as it can, with an expected “small increase” in retail numbers for the next month or two. Beyond that, Iwata doesn’t appear optimistic.
Regardless, the “white whale” status of the little console – along with its rampant popularity – are both good news for Nintendo. With the list of software hits still a bit soft in its first full year in release (at least, compared with Sony and Microsoft), the continuing shortage keeps the public firmly focused on a Wii console that simply must be phenomenal – otherwise, why would it be sold out?
