@Tharthesos:
As some people have said, this looks correct on the surface but doesn't hold much water on closer inspection:
1- it doesn't explain why the Wii has been sold out in America every single week since launch, even when it wasn't sold out anywhere else.
2- Software sales are tied to hardware sales, and, according to this currency theory, they're also more interesting for Nintendo in Europe, since games cost 50 € which is more than $50 even accounting for taxes. If hardware sales are so important for their profit, why don't they launch games such as SSBB earlier? I don't even mean earlier than in USA, just not months later than in USA.
3- Otherwise, if as you said software sales are more profitable in USA, to sell software you need to sell hardware first, and software is certainly more profitable than hardware. This also goes against Nintendo making America suffer from a shortage of Wiis.
The bottom line is that this explanation is at best insufficient, and at worst totally incongruent with reality. Better than typical Pachter, but still not very good.
The simple and IMO correct explanation for the shortages is that Wii demand is higher than expected everywhere in the world, especially so in America. This means that unless production is increased, there's no way supply will be enough in America.
PS: I don't think the stockpiling has anything to do with currencies. It has to do with the necessity of Wiis for the Chinese/Korean launch, Wii Fit launch, holiday season. In other words, the reason for stockpiling is the same as last year's plus the Asian launches.
My Mario Kart Wii friend code: 2707-1866-0957
