HappySqurriel on 23 May 2008
| mike_intellivision said: CNET Hates the Wii. It is official. I got this in my email box this morning. Basically, they think Nintendo is causing its own shortage. (Link the the Crave piece mentioned below: http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9945902-1.html?tag=nl.e497) Dear CNET members, Even after a year and a half, the extremely popular Nintendo Wii game console is still very difficult to get your hands on in the U.S. It's short in supply, the demand is still extremely high, and we aren't even in the holiday season! Even if there were a few on the shelves, chances are they will be gone in no time. And if you're lucky enough to come across one in stock, it's usually never sold as a standalone console, but bundled with games and accessories that hike up the price substantially. With the release of Wii Fit (a Nintendo fitness game) just this week, I can only imagine that demand for the Wii is now even higher. Even my father, who is 78 years old and has no clue into the gaming world except for the Wii, asked me if I was going to get Wii Fit so he can try it out. He's considering getting the Wii and Wii Fit to put a little fun into his workouts. Amazing how the Wii has captivated his age group--just incredible! Now, since the scarcity of Wiis has affected consumer demands, many people have been speculating that Nintendo is purposely creating an artificial shortage of Wiis. After all, it makes perfect business sense--don't saturate the market by releasing all you have; hold some back and keep the demand high to ensure its popularity and allow the buzz to continue to make everyone want one. (OK, not everyone, but you know what I mean!) However, in a recent Crave blog entry titled "The Wii is still sold out!", CNET editor Matthew Moskovciak reported that Wiis are essentially sold out online and when he wrote to Nintendo to question the persistent Wii shortages, Nintendo replied by saying it is doing all it can to keep up with the high demand and is raising production in hopes of addressing the shortages. But seriously, given all this time since its release, don't you think that they should be caught up by now? Do you think Nintendo is intentionally sandbagging inventory to keep demand high? Or do you think Nintendo has really just created a console that has captivated a wide audience from the younger to older generations, that it's just that hot, and that they really can't keep up with production? Maybe there's only a U.S. shortage as many members have mentioned that there are plenty of Wiis in other countries. So read the Crave blog entry, and when you're ready, Wii want to know what you think! Cheers! Lee Koo Manager, CNET community Mike from Morgantown |
The effect discribed by Lee Koo is real, but I don't think that it can work in the long term (as they're suggesting) ...
Basically, if you're launching a console in September/October and have massive shortages you will get a lot of press coverage which gives the console the impression of being the "Hot" holiday product; if you then increase supply in late November people will rush out in a panic and buy your system in order to have it under the Christmas tree.
18 months after the system was launched, after it has passed 2 holiday seasons, the console is selling at "Holiday" sales levels which (in my opinion) would be impossible if it was just a supply trick to increase demand.
