Iwata Discusses “Abnormal” Wii Shortage
April 27, 2007
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Nintendo president Satoru Iwata, following details of Nintendo’s record breaking full year financial results yesterday, has labeled worldwide shortages of the Wii console as “abnormal” and promised to increase deliveries by May next month.
“We must do our best to fix this abnormal lack of stock. We have not been able to properly foresee demand,” Iwata was quoted in an Associated Press report.
Iwata did not confirm Wii’s current monthly production capacity, nor did he give any indication of how much Wii production is set to increase. It has been so tough to get one’s hand on a Wii console since its fall launch that some are accusing Nintendo of purposefully withholding stock to stimulate consumer interest. Iwata did, however, reveal that new Nintendo DS consoles, which are also difficult to obtain in certain markets (e.g. Japan) are being manufactured at a rate of 2.5 million units a month, the highest ever for a Nintendo console. Whatever that means.
Nintendo revealed yesterday that the company’s net profit for the financial year (ended March 31) had risen by 77% to ¥174.3 billion ($1.47bn), with sales up by 90% to ¥966.5 billion ($8.10bn). A total of 5.84 Wii consoles had been sold by the same date – roughly meeting the company’s target of six million.
