Nintendo: Wii have a supply problem

Juniper Foo | May 08, 2007

Bad enough that it's shilly-shallied its way to selected parts of Asia outside Japan, and in limited quantities. Now comes more bad news.

GameSpot UK reports that so popular is Nintendo's gaming console, six months after the Wii's much-anticipated launch, CEO Satoru Iwata is addressing shortages at company financial briefings. In a Q&A session posted to the company's site late last week, he acknowledged the supply shortage, adding that "we are sorry that we were unable to sufficiently forecast this kind of demand".

In dealing with the production bottleneck, Iwata conceded that the company's Mario factory is increasing production of the console and that a "small increase" can be expected in retail outlets starting this month. Though whether that's sufficient to weather Nintendo through the supply issue is another matter altogether. As Iwata said in the same session: "Making a significant volume of the high-tech hardware, and making an additional volume, is not an easy task at all. In fact, when we clear one bottleneck for a production increase, we will face another one."

On a separate matter, when asked if he might hire Ken Kutaragi, the creator of Sony's PlayStation console line who recently stepped down to "pursue other projects", Iwata answered in the negative. "I don't think we will do that."

Filed under: Home AV
Leave a comment | Bookmark | Share