Holiday Wii shortages expected in the UK

We already knew Nintendo was anticipating Wii shortages this holiday season, but it's just the beginning of November and UK retailers are already reporting dwindling supplies. While we're certain the problem is at least in part due ot what Nintendo cheerfully calls "unprecedented demand," it's a little ridiculous for there still to be supply issues a year after the Wii's launch. Come on Ninty, get crackin' -- that Vii is starting to look pretty tempting.

[Preston @ Nov 14th 2007 12:43PM]

"that Vii" will never look tempting.

[ToonPac @ Nov 14th 2007 12:47PM]

Expected? Last I checked (a month ago) the shortages were already here...

[Deputy Doffoos @ Nov 14th 2007 6:12PM]

Hate me, rate me low, but I was one of those guys that LAST year went through the country and got exactly 40 Wiis and sold them all double the prize!

I´m considering doing it again LOL

[Nubikal @ Nov 14th 2007 2:26PM]

Expected? Last I checked (a month ago) the shortages were already
here...

[AlexP @ Nov 14th 2007 12:49PM]

Go buy them in Canada already, I'm tired of seeing all those Wiis sitting on our store shelves.

[Dan @ Nov 14th 2007 2:52PM]

Where? Not a single Wii to be found in Windsor.

[AlexP @ Nov 14th 2007 5:01PM]

Ottawa area, there's an average of 5 per electronics store.

[NewJohnny @ Nov 14th 2007 7:11PM]

Nothing in Vancouver for the last year.

[Ray-- @ Nov 14th 2007 12:52PM]

im amazed that nintendo couldnt meet demand by now... I am tempted to sell mine since I'm not really interested in any of the games other than Wii Sports.... why do all the games suck so bad?

[Josh L @ Nov 14th 2007 12:54PM]

Why does your taste in games suck so bad?

[hurricane @ Nov 14th 2007 3:11PM]

Okay, Josh, you do realize that what you just said implies that every Wii game is awesome... I own a Wii, and sure, there are enough good games out by now to hold me over 'til SSBB, but most of the games now are just gimmicks; there are tons of mini-game games, of which very few are any good.

So basically, you're encouraging third party companies to take advantage of the Wii and make horrible games (gimmicks). Thanks, Wii really wanted to know that.

Oh, and if you were being sarcastic, you should use /sarcasm or something similar...

[Alex Padilla @ Nov 14th 2007 12:58PM]

They really know how this "supply and demand" thing works, eh?

[Jisc @ Nov 14th 2007 1:03PM]

amazing...i dont think ive ever seen one sitting on the shelf...on the other hand I own one and it needs more games!

[luke @ Nov 14th 2007 1:17PM]

Been waiting over 3 weeks now for one with expansys.com ordered back in mid october and they currently don't expect to get my wii to me until janurary! crazy stuff, did nintendo forget about xmas this year or something.

sounds like it's all a ploy yo keep nintendo in the news.

[Electromodo @ Nov 14th 2007 1:22PM]

By the time I would be able to grab one Wii from the shelf, it would be already obsolete...

[Sandra @ Nov 14th 2007 1:28PM]

No kidding, I wanted one a year ago, but over the last year of not being able to find one anywhere i've lost interest in even bothering with buying one if Nintendo ever gets their act together and I could actualy find one.

[John B @ Nov 14th 2007 5:00PM]

In the past year I've had the opportunity to buy them no less than 5 times. I now own two Wiis because of that.

My secret? Don't restrict your looking to evenings and weekends. Find out from each of your local stores when they get their regular supply trucks, and get in there not only that day but also the following morning if possible. Very early on Sunday is also a good time unless the Wii was in a Sunday advertisement because then everyone will be looking for it. The two Wiis that I bought were during the week while I was out at lunch and the stores that I was in just so happened to have some. Just last weekend I was at a local Target at 10:30 AM on a Sunday (before all of the church-goers were done with their services) and they had over a dozen available.

Hell, very early this year I had 4 Wiimotes during a time when people were bitching and moaning about not being able to find Wiimotes! Seriously, if you can get out during lunch and you can find out when your local stores get their trucks in, that will give you a big advantage over those who always wait until the evenings or weekends.

[mattclarkie @ Nov 14th 2007 1:27PM]

It isn't just November. Most retailers have had shortages, especially online retailers, ever since launch. This has to be deliberate as it can't be that difficult to produce this console.

It also means that retailers have been charging RRP as they sell them as soon as they get them instock. The retailers love the "Shortage".

[wirelessdeo @ Nov 14th 2007 1:41PM]

In the New Orleans area I have yet to see a Wii on a store shelf. Plenty of games and other gear but not a single console. I have been looking for one now for the past 8 months. Been looking in all the big stores and the shelves are bare. I asked a couple of store clerks and they claim that some should be comming in....yeah right.

You would think this is the first console that the big N has put out, come on they know how well they sell.

[holycow @ Nov 14th 2007 1:36PM]

read this on bbc a while back.. people there said that they got theirs from amazon.de .. shipping apparently cost them 6 GBP and got to them in 3-4 days.

[Steve @ Nov 14th 2007 5:39PM]

Yep, got mine from Amazon.De. wiipreorder.co.uk gives full instructions on how to order if you don't sprechen ze Deutsch.

[Tom @ Nov 14th 2007 1:46PM]

fuck nintendo man. their launch is over. they have had a year to produce them. No need to keep up the scarcity factor. They should just be focused on selling as many of these as possible.

[John Stracke @ Nov 14th 2007 1:50PM]

I'm not sure how much room there is to criticize Nintendo here. From a business point of view, they're doing things exactly right. Their product is in demand, they're making a profit on the hardware, and they have no risk of building up an unsellable backlog. Oh, and they haven't had to cut prices.

So, yeah, their production is not keeping up with demand. But demand is *really* strong--according to NPD, they're outselling the PS3 and the 360 combined. In other words, *most* of the world's production of 7th-generation consoles is Wiis. Is it any surprise that they're having difficulty ramping up further?

[mlb @ Nov 14th 2007 1:51PM]

I've seen them sitting on the shelf at my local Target. They sell out pretty quickly, but they are there. I've had mine since early 2007. I really enjoy the Wii, if not for games like Mario and Zelda, then for the fact that it gives me the ability to sit on my couch and read the news, weather, Internet, etc very easily. The new Vote for Mii channel or whatever it is called that came out today is absolutely hilarious. The Wii is just a good time all around. Even my girlfriend plays it sometimes and she normally only likes games like Pac Man. That is the genius of the Wii.

[MattM @ Nov 14th 2007 1:58PM]

I work for a major retailer. We've had two or three delivered each week since launch. But supply has definitely dried up and demand is still very high. We had two delivered today and they were sold literally one minute after staff were informed. I didn't even have time to print of the "now in stock" signs.

[James Jones @ Nov 14th 2007 1:59PM]

Supply and demand!Do you really think there's a shortage?Come on,I don't think its that hard to produce an over featured gamecube! Nintendo knows exactly what there doing.milk those shortages and take advantage of the average shopping IDIOT that will stand in those long lines because nintendo and the media create another frenzy!!

[EvanG @ Nov 14th 2007 2:10PM]

The system everyone wants but no one plays once they get it.

I know they rot on shelves in Australia but I still have never seen one on a shelf in the U.S. Is Nintendo a state industry of the Soviet Union?

[James Jones @ Nov 14th 2007 2:35PM]

I thought that from the beinning.My buddy got one last year.I played it for a couple of hours and it got old real fast.i don't know about anybody else, but I like to sit and play video games and not break a sweat.

[Alex @ Nov 14th 2007 4:28PM]

Do you know any Wii owners? I know close to a dozen and they all play with theirs frequently, even after several months of ownership. That includes my nieces who got theirs last Christmas and still play it pretty much every day.

[Darrol @ Nov 14th 2007 2:42PM]

I would recommend people get their Wii's before December, heard something along the lines about Nintendo stocking up for a few months.

[timatl @ Nov 14th 2007 2:47PM]

i am a little pissed with nintendo. this is one of items i just prefer to order locally. i could order it on ebay and pay slight premium but I don't want to risk that for xmas gift (just in case it does not work, i don't want to explain that to a 9 year old). it just does not make since for after a year of shortages they have not picked up the production to meet demand. i want to get one for my nine year daughter and it is impossible to find these things in stock without standing in line for hours and why should I have to do that. i guess i will have to stand in line one sunday morning so i can get one. it sucks but for my daughter. thanks for listening to me vent. please no flaming, i just needed to get that off my chest.

[Dan @ Nov 14th 2007 3:00PM]

They haven't been overstocked by any means, but it also isn't terribly difficult to get a Wii when you want to (i.e. not a real "shortage"). Nintendo announcing that they expect shortages around the holidays is a no-lose situation - (1) it introduces impulse buying into the equation, (2) it spreads out purchases so they truly don't have a shortage, which in turn (3) allows them to smooth out production demand spikes to keep costs down. This announcement is great for their bottom line, whether or not it's true.

[BrettB @ Nov 14th 2007 3:03PM]

I've purchased 3 now from WalMart. They're not always there, but they are frequently in stock. Stop complaining and spend a little time looking every time your out and you'll find one. If you don't have the time, pay the premium to get it on ebay and be happy.

[Nicholas @ Nov 14th 2007 3:29PM]

The wii is selling roughly 17million in the first ONE YEAR of its existence...it's not like they are barely churning out any Wiis...they have already sold more Wiis than 360s have sold...fastest selling console EVER, so give them a break...u can't just ramp up production at the snap of your fingers (especially if u wanna avoid rings of death and such)

[hiredgoonz @ Nov 14th 2007 4:59PM]

Exactly...in one year the Wii has already outsold the 360, which has been out for 2 years now. What is Nintendo supposed to do, buy/build 10 factories to meet demand and then have empty buildings when they're no longer needed? No one expected the Wii to do this well, not even Nintendo.

I still remember all the ridicule Nintendo faced before launch. I'm guessing it's the same people who were saying the Wii would be a huge flop that are now complaining about shortages.

Nintendo has taken reasonable steps to increase production, rerouting shipments to meet demand, and while it certainly benefits them to have a product in high-demand, it doesn't benefit them if they don't have consoles to sell to customers that want them.

I'm sure Nintendo would rather have enough consoles to sell since, you know, that's how they make money. It doesn't generate any profit when a customer can't buy a Wii. And if they don't have a Wii, then they're not buying remotes, nunchuks, or games either.

It would be foolish for Nintendo to intentionally limit supply a year after launch. If there are actually shortages during the Holiday season, it hurts Nintendo in both the short and long term (customers who can't find a Wii might get a 360 instead, costing Nintendo future software and accessory sales). If there aren't any shortages, then this might just be sneaky marketing.

[NutMac @ Nov 14th 2007 3:30PM]

US Amazon.com had them in stock earlier today. I guess I should've bought 3 and sold them off on UK eBay.

[mj @ Nov 14th 2007 4:22PM]

Not sure why Wii is getting free ride here when it is technically least complicated console to manufacture and Nintendo is making money on each console contrary to PS3 or XBOX 360. I've Wii and based on my personal experience there is nothing interesting apart from Wii Sport and that also wears off its craze after couple of weeks. I'm back to my PS3 atleast if not doing anything else I can still watch those Bluray movies using BOGO offer from Amazon and others. Thanks to Toshiba to come out with $99 crippled down player and bring some competition to BR camp that way people owning PS3 can get cheaper bluray movies.

[JBDragon @ Nov 14th 2007 11:26PM]

I have yet to see a Wii on a store shelf yet anywhere. Who's buying them all up and why??? Games aren't flying off the shelves. Personally I still have no interest in one. It's not HD, so no thanks.

[steve @ Nov 15th 2007 4:51AM]

Well as per last year (http://www.engadget.com/2006/12/07/nintendo-shorting-uk-pre-orders-with-supply-problems/) , we will be back with http://www.wiisearcher.com tracking both UK and USA on line merchants. We're just making sure everything's in place and then we'll be back to tracking every 30 seconds or so. free RSS feeds etc. alerting you when stock appears.

Also UK peeps remember that not only the Wii is selling out - the 360, PS3 and DS Lite (not sure about the PSP) will also be in shortage this Christmas according to industry insiders.

The rule is if you want a console for Christmas ORDER NOW!!

[Simon Johnson @ Nov 15th 2007 7:01AM]

I work for CeX, in the last few weeks we have taken 27 Wii's in. That number currently sits at 2. The shortage is already here, and I don't expect to see Wii's anywhere before the end of the month.

In an unrelated topic we have sold 5 PS3's since they launched.

[Lewis @ Dec 16th 2007 12:51PM]

Funny, I just went to town, saw one and got one, bearing in mind that only "woolworths" had them, and only 2 left :P everwhere else was sold out. It was the basic £179 one. No bundle