Honestly, I work at EB and I don't get many people coming in the store asking asking for a Wii and when I tell them nos they ask for a 360 instead.

People who want a Wii know what it does and how you play games. They also know that the 360 doesn't do the same things. The only people that will by a 360 instead are the ones who are going to buy a 360 eventually anyways and they will still buy a Wii when they can find one.

Thus Nintendo only looses sales in the short-term.

I would say there is a big difference between 1 billion costing or not to have 1 billion in additional turnovers.

It's a billion dollars they're leaving on the table for Sony and Microsoft to take a shot at. This is a big deal -- we're literally talking about revenue that /won't/ move into the future for Nintendo. This is the holiday season and this money is available for a limited time. The continued shortfalls will greatly affect the Wii's future in a negative way.

Imagine if there was enough supply to meet the demand and Nintendo was selling twice as many units. The Wii advertises itself. This is obvious based on the fact that Nintendo pulled its advertising, the Wii is lined up cost-wise with the arcade 360, and it is frantically outselling it. More Wii sales would lead to more Wii testimonials/word of mouth advertising, and more Wii sales.

Perhaps Nintendo could increase manufacturing two fold again and demand would only get higher in North America. That isn't clear. What is clear, however, is that this shortfall is absolutely having a huge negative impact on the Wii and on Nintendo, and we have no way of really measuring how large that impact is. We can tell from the demand that it is insane, though.

I'll tell you one thing: retailers are stockpiling big for next week. These are the records Reggie is talking about: everyone wants to have huge piles of Wiis for sale every day during that week if they cann.

^ If it were not the Wii we are talking about,you would be totally right.Don't underestimate the hunger for Wii.It's like this : 360/PS3 are like chinese food.At first you seem satisfied.A short time later you recognize that you are still hungry.Now you have to buy the 'real' food.Bread,butter & milk(=Wii).So even when their christmas money is gone,a few weeks later(Easter for example)they'll have new money to spent:)

i was thinking about this....

the only way it could be counted as a loss sale is if the person is never going to buy the wii b/c they cant find one this christmas...

now if that person will buy one after christmas it was never actualy a loss sale now was it?

Nintendo is producing the Wii's very fast, it's ridicolous for people to expect them to produce them faster....I don't think any other console ever made has had 16 million consoles made available in it's first year!

Did DS shortages hamper its success or cause an explosion in PSP sales? I just don't think that these shortages help the competition as much as some would hope. Especially when the competition costs more and focuses on different demographics.

 Actually it could, they may not buy the games they would have, they might have shown it to others who would have wanted it, there are benefits to having your product in people's hands ASAP

These kind of things are rarely so simple. $1.3 billion is just a reference, applicable in the short term. To interpret figures like these you make your own adjustment what effect of fulfilling current demand has on future sales.

Also, hindsight is always 20/20. There's a whole bunch of things it doesn't take into account, like risk.

ps. In a way this "leaving $1.3 billion on the table because not producing enough Wii's" is like saying "Nintendo stock is now $75 I should have bought more when it's $30." Well, duh.

I have seen a Gamestop employee try to sell a woman a PS3 after she asked if it was possible to get a Wii before Xmas. Upon hearing the PS3 is $150 more she walked out. I imagine some kids are going to wake up to a PS3 or Xbox 360 instead of a Wii for Xmas, but I think for the most part parents will go the IOU route. Back in the early 80's if my mother had bought me a Sega Master System, I'd hope to hell she kept the receipt.

Just remember if Nintendo or I mean ummm elves can't find the parts to make Wiis, Santa will have to make good on January or February. 'But Santa made one for Billy!" Well Billy doesn't punch his sister and pick his nose now does he?