re Apple,
After the iPod mini first came out in the US in Feb 2004 Apple had to postpone the worldwide launch by 4 months because of high demand. However, by Autumn of 2004 they were well in stock everywhere (and sold out again near the end of the year).
iPod shipments exploded in that time - from 0.8 million in the 1st quarter (when the iPod mini launched) to 4.6 million in the 4th quarter of 2004.
In the 4th Quarter of 2005 Apple already shipped 14 million iPods (and where sold out towards the end of the quarter).
So Apple managed a 5x production increase in the first 9 months and then another 3x increase in the next 12 months. Nintendo could do that if they needed too.
Hardcore gaming is a bubble economy blown up by Microsoft's $7 $6 billion losses.
