I think Microsoft could have met that demand because they would have been ready to crank up production with no regards to profitability and reliability. They're in it for marketshare, not so much for profits. On the other hand, Microsoft could never produce something as innovative as Wii, exactly because they have too much money.

To:Nintendownsmii

Well if it is not likely then why put foward the scenario? Most likely the Wii would still be sold out if production was doubled.

Also considering the fact that Nintendo is introducing the Wii to new markets in Asia, it's really puzzling why Nintendo won't have production greatly increased. A big opportunity missed for Nintendo.

This is the major downfall to outsourcing manufacturing and using the just-in-time manufacturing method that Nintendo uses.

Streamlining with just-in-time can save a company a lot of money, but it can also cause issues, like what Nintendo is having, where not enough products are making it to the shelves around the world.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Just_in_time
http://www.industryweek.com/ReadArticle.aspx?ArticleID=14177

What are you talking about? They have "greatly increased" production. They went from 2.65 million in the first quarter of 2007 to more than 5 million this quarter. They doubled production in less than a year. Anything more would have been irresponsible.

Nintendo started this gen producing a million consoles a month. By comparison, the Gamecube had to actually stop producing consoles way before its life ended due to them over producing more than they could sell. The system was a failure, and hot off a failing console they actually had the balls to make a million a month. More than the 360 produced when it launched, and more than the PS3 produced which was hot off a 120m selling console.

Lesson?: Producing more consoles in the first year than ANY OTHER CONSOLE IN GAMING HISTORY DOES NOT, AND CANNOT EVER QUALIFY AS CONSERVATIVE. EVER.

And on your second point. As I stated Nintendo started production at 1million a month, a figure only matched by the PS2 at its prime, since launch Nintendo has raised production to 1.8 million a month, dwarfing that of even the PS2, in its prime.

Lesson?: Nintendo DID IN FACT INCREASE PRODUCTION WHEN THE DEMAND SHOWED ITSELF.

People here have a serious problem. You cant seem to seperate unprecedented demand and "conservative production". To some of you, anything that doesnt meet current demand qualifies as conservative. And thats just stupid. Right now we have Nintendo pumping out more consoles than any in history by a MASSIVE margin, and because the demand somehow keeps scaling with their increases in production, people are calling them conservative.

I vote you stop using the word until you learn its meaning. 

I'm sure Nintendo also wants to maintain a certain quality of service. You can't just flood the market with millions of product without building the support necessary for those products. That includes technical support as well as building up their network services. They would also have to increase their QC ability to make sure they don't suffer RROD type problems.

It would be a public relations nightmare if they suddenly became known for lousy service or terrible product reliability.

 Funny, Me too, I aint admiting nuffin.

Lol, Nintendo doesn't care about market share like the PS2. Sure they could have had a 50% market share if they wanted to take the risk and buy new factories... but who cares? Nintendo isn't Microsoft, they don't see the need to spend extra money just for a percentage. Wiis will sell over time, there is no rush really.

Nintendo must have listened to people on this site when everyone was saying (in March of 2007) "Oh check wiitracker!!! It's up to 17%! The fad is over!"

I blame you VGchartz.

Hindsight is 20/20.

Conservatism is why Nintendo is making money on every Wii bought.
Conservatism is why Nintendo came in third last generation but was profitable.

Seems to work out for them.

eatrice i dare you to go into any store and find wii's then go back to that same store a day later and tell me that the wii's are still there. i am saying what everyone else is the demand for ht ewii is so high that no one knows exactly how high of demand it is. not until the demand is going down wil we finally see stock staying on shelves but till then no one knows.