Anyone who thinks the Wii shortage is the result of some sort of calculated marketing scheme is pretty naive. It's simple. Nintendo has some serious production problems. Their marketing dep't is basically just trying to save face with this whole "If you see one, buy it" bs. With such a competitive game console market, why would any company in their right mind risk losing consumers today in exchange for bogus "marketing hype"? Nintendo's also competing with other types of CE companies for customer $$. Many average consumers make purchase decisions between product X and Y, even though product X and Y are completely different products. For example, there are probably thousands of consumers Nintendo missed out on because instead of buying a Wii they couldn't find, these consumers ended up buying an iPhone/gps/Zune/whatever. Unlike most people on this site, the average consumer does not buy every CE product they desire.
Creating an artificial shortage is even more illogical when you consider the fact that Nintendo also makes their own games. Thus, by not maximizing the "installed" Wii base, they are losing out on future game $$ as well.
re: the "smoothing earnings" post, while many companies do try to do this, the costs to Nintendo for doing this vs. the benefits are too great. I'd love to attend the board meeting where investors ask about why Nintendo sold only ABC Wii units when market research showed there was 2 x ABC demanded, and the CEO responding "well, you see... we feel it's important to smooth earnings"
Funny how you can pick up a bundle from gamestop or walmart and have it delivered usually under 2 weeks from time of order. Those bundles usually command double the price of the console with the add-ons. Also, it's interesting to note while you can order a bundle and get it fulfilled, you CAN'T order just the console and get fulfilled. The shortage is a scam to boost demand and sell higher priced bundles.
HP has had plenty of time to fine-tune its finger-friendly TouchSmart software, and now, its newest model, the TouchSmart 610, ushers in a fresh design, highlighted by a hinge that allows the display to slide down and lie nearly flat.
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Anyone who thinks the Wii shortage is the result of some sort of calculated marketing scheme is pretty naive. It's simple. Nintendo has some serious production problems. Their marketing dep't is basically just trying to save face with this whole "If you see one, buy it" bs. With such a competitive game console market, why would any company in their right mind risk losing consumers today in exchange for bogus "marketing hype"? Nintendo's also competing with other types of CE companies for customer $$. Many average consumers make purchase decisions between product X and Y, even though product X and Y are completely different products. For example, there are probably thousands of consumers Nintendo missed out on because instead of buying a Wii they couldn't find, these consumers ended up buying an iPhone/gps/Zune/whatever. Unlike most people on this site, the average consumer does not buy every CE product they desire.
Creating an artificial shortage is even more illogical when you consider the fact that Nintendo also makes their own games. Thus, by not maximizing the "installed" Wii base, they are losing out on future game $$ as well.
re: the "smoothing earnings" post, while many companies do try to do this, the costs to Nintendo for doing this vs. the benefits are too great. I'd love to attend the board meeting where investors ask about why Nintendo sold only ABC Wii units when market research showed there was 2 x ABC demanded, and the CEO responding "well, you see... we feel it's important to smooth earnings"
Well Said.
Yeah but...
Funny how you can pick up a bundle from gamestop or walmart and have it delivered usually under 2 weeks from time of order. Those bundles usually command double the price of the console with the add-ons. Also, it's interesting to note while you can order a bundle and get it fulfilled, you CAN'T order just the console and get fulfilled. The shortage is a scam to boost demand and sell higher priced bundles.