I have to say that the article was crap... Let's look at few key points there:
1. Supply issues; Nintendo reps have stated that it takes five months to ramp up production.
a) Since the demand is unknown, it needs to be tested if the further ramp-up is needed, so a ramp-up pace 1/year is pretty good.
b) Why does it take so long, as stated in the article, Wii has no "special parts inside", but the keyword here is custom. If you have custom parts, you have propably only one manufaturer and you need to plan the manufacturing lines just for them, and it takes more time than it takes with "bulk" parts from various manufacturers, when the production can be increased with buying the overproduction.
2. Shipments to NA: Considering that the Americas is where the biggest shipments go, "holding back" is just BS. And what should be noted is, that Europe have experienced supply issues too.
a) We know that Iwata has told us, that profit originates from software, so no matter how low USD would be at the moment, you still will profit from the software, that is sold for the created userbase when the exhange rate goes up again. If you don't create the userbase now, you lose a shitload of money later (for Sonys lossleading strategy this seemed to make sense for everybody, but when suggested that Nintendo would benefit from software sales, it somehow doesn't seem to make anymore).
b) It's always better to make money, than not making it at all. Each Wii sold (even in Americas) makes profit. By not selling the the consoles, Nintendo would lose profit. In any case, we only have timed generation, meaning the life of a console is limited, when you need to sell them as much as possible. Waiting for currency exchanges to change after the next five years doesn't mame any sense, since it all is only lost in sales.
3. The demand. Pachter was wrong about Nintendo not guessing Wii getting more popular than PS2, considering Iwata mentioned expecting it to surpass PS2 at E3 06 and the fact that Wii has been manufactured at a faster pace than PS2 right from the beginning. If Nintendo didn't expect for it to sell so good, why manufacture so many of them?
4. The price isn't right. Looking at Europe and Japan, the price may be just about right (at the sweet spot for hardware). Besides, as i said earlier, Nintendo focus on making profit out of software, not hardware (again, why does this makes sense when Sony does it, but makes no sense when Nintendo is doing it).
@Picko: So, what stupid did Malstrom write to his blog post? And what's the issue with the oil? What Malstrom wrote is excactly what's happening with oil right now.
No, it wasn't priced too low. With the Wiis pricing, it is able to go far without pricecuts and it will sell longer with the current price. The problem with PS360 pricecuts is, that people wait for them and buy their console either after the price goes down or their most anticipated game comes out (this is where you don't get additional software sales). After all, Nintendo wants to make profit with the software, not hardware. Besides, you don't profit from selling your product with price, you profit from cheap manufacturing.
@steven: The issue is, that doing as Pachter suggested isn't maximizing revenue and profits.
Besides, if they invest their low USD profits to USD, they can make the money "back" after USD goes up again. Simple, buy with USD when it's high and buy with Yen when it's high.
@HappySqurriel: No, you're not the only one, but good to note that out.
Ei Kiinasti.
Eikä Japanisti.
Vaan pannaan jalalla koreasti.
Nintendo games sell only on Nintendo system.
