Yesterday, we saw a return of Wii sales in the Americas to the ~80,000 per week range.  When this happened, I expected to see an increase in sales in Japan or Europe to match the lapse in sales from the Americas.  Today confirmed that this increase did not happen -- instead, worldwide sales of Wii decreased this week from last, and when looking at the worldwide chart, have actually decreased for the past four weeks in a row.

At the beginning of May, it seemed as if Nintendo had finally started ramping production and improving on their shortage problem, but sales have dipped almost back down to March and early April levels.  What gives?  Why boost supply for just a few weeks?  I think it has little if anything to do with Golden Week, as this graph shows that most of the increase in supply went to the Americas, while Japan showed only a modest increase.

Japan has been declining since the end of golden week (and just posted an increase, irc) I think a lot of the extra production is going to stockpiling for Christmas, or to counter 360's Halo launch and also GTAIV launch. although to be honest, I think Nintendo hasn't increased production very much at all yet...

Me thinks they absolutely have started stockpiling for the holidays. There are already predictions of shortages during that season, and it would be a HUGE mistake if they concede another holiday to the 360. Imagine if they could only ship 2 million Wiis in November worldwide. The 360 sold over a million consoles in December in NA alone. The Wii, at it's price, could double that. 2 million in ONE region. If they haven't started stockpiling, they are committing holiday suicide.

I don't know, but for the first time I actually witnessed 2 Wii's in a Walmart game case, while the person in front of me in line was buying another one, which makes three. Yay! I can do math!

IMO, it's going to be hard to tell for a month... It could be Nintendo was concentrating through channels not well represented by the weekly data this site is getting. Last month, 25,000 had to be added to each week once the npd numbers came in. If Nintendo is shifting the love, it could make tracking rather difficult... ie: Toys-r-us one week, Walmart a different, video game stores a different, etc... Gettinng these numbers are still better then nothing, but don't forget they could easily be 20% off.

They are stockpiling, which also helps keep interest up. MS is doing the same thing kinda with the Elite, except they aren't making many of 'em, just enough to sell under demand.

I think they could be holding a few units back for the DQ launch.

I have a question about stockpiling...why exactly does it matter if you sell the console now or in december? is it because you add one sale for your company and take one away from a competitor, assuming one console purchase per holiday season per family? i just assumed someone who wants a console now and is unable to get one may get bored and buy a competing brand. anyways, i've been talking to my friends and we're not quite sure why everyone is so sure nintendo is stockpiling. i'd appreciate any insight into the video game markets anyone can offer. thanks

Every month, they ship out more Wiis than before.

holiday season is when people buy presents, and they may only be able to buy the Wii´s during that time. Also, in USA, Thanksgiving is about a month before Christmas. Thats when families get reunited. Wii appeals to everyone. Many families will play a Wii for the first time, and some of them will become interested in buying it. The perfect time for this is Christmas, as a present for the kids or to the whole family. Nintendo knows that this holiday season maybe one of the most important points in the console war, so they are getting ready for it. Also, there is a pretty strong chance that either Galaxy or Brawl will be released between November and December. And many people will pick a Wii for one of those. Nintendo knows that they will seel everythign they can offer in Christmas, so they have to offer as much as they can. They don´t need to worry about current sales, they are very good, far better than the competition, and that is happening without any really big games.