http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=13297

at the same time, it would be pretty logical, especially concerning their market operations for the end of march (if you already outpaced your expectation, why not cut some steam, and leave it for the next fiscal year to start even stronger) and a pretty good reminder that nintendo is just another company, not your best buddy... still i feel the pain for all would be owner waiting for this strategic plan to end... (also they'll be soon able to buy both the wii and paper mario, so no more complaining soon...)

He (essentially) said that Wii shipments were smaller at the end of March because Nintendo had made their shipments for the year and were cutting back on supply ... In a couple of weeks NPD numbers will be released and we will know whether supply was really shorter ... Assuming supply was shorter, it is know that Nintendo intends to boost supply in April and I wonder what impact increasing capacity would have on supply in the short term. If you're attempting to double the number of systems produced by a single facility would you have to take that facility off line for a short while in order to make modifications?

"...and this just my opinion" The article isn't really a declaration of the Wii supply being intentionally limited, just an opinion by one retailer CEO.

agree that this is just one man's opinion, although statements made during an earnings release aren't trifling matters. he did say that they're happy with supplies in the coming month, so we'll see.

I recall reading a few weeks back that Nintendo planned to produce 7 million and ship 6, though I don't believe it had much impact one way or the other.

I'd be inclined to say this was a bit of sour grapes on GameStop's part. We've seen some decent promotions from other large merchants when they get a bunch of Wii's in stock. In fact, Circuit City just had one last Sunday. Let's see what the NPD and Nintendo's year end report say in a couple of weeks.

This doesn't mean much - and isn't as "headline" as the title may read. I think its quite possible for Nintendo be stockpiling any Wii's they have made past the 6-million mark - and allocate them for the next 12 months. This allows them to put out a more impressive figure for Wii shipments for the next 12 months - and also surprise the competition when they sell 500k or 600k Wii's in the US next month (not that Im saying this will happen - just that it could).

It does sound like sour grapes. The biggest sellers of video games are Wal-mart, Target and BB. Nintendo will try to keep the big guys happy first and foremost.

I do not believe this was an intentional move by Nintendo, however do you remember when they had to temporarily completely halt GC production altogether? They misread retailer demand & flooded market channels. This was post the $50 price cut which served them so well throughout the holiday period, so much so that they had to ramp up production. But the momentum did not last, & they were stuck warehousing units. (costing them money) This time, Nintendo did not foresee such rabid demand. At home nor abroad, & was cautious as well as conservative but I do not believe they were purposely just simply sitting on stock.