The lack of Wiis is definitely a considered strategy from Nintendo. I don't believe for a second that the PS3 and 360 appeal to the same demographic as the Wii, therefore in hyping up demand - and therefore avoiding a price drop - there is little risk of losing customers to the competition (sic). As soon as their figures go down they'll up production.
For those who disagree that the lack of supply is different, could you give a valid reason why Nintendo cannot produce enough units? It's hardly at the nadir of technology and is probably as easy to build as a clock/radio. It's not like they are waiting for quicker processes to provide blue lasers or Cell chips......
It’s too easy to say Nintendo is holding off supply to artificially create demand when it has been as popular as it has been. Even Nintendo themselves admitted that they had no idea it would be so popular this last holiday season.
I could believe the ‘artificial demand’ conspiracy theory if it weren’t for the fact that they sold almost 14 million unit in one year. That’s a feat in itself for any new electronic product to market, especially when considering that the X360 hasn’t sold more globally and has been to retail a full year ahead of the Wii. This is with them opening upping production and diverting consoles to the US that were intended for other markets.
The argument could be made ‘Well contract more manufactures, open more fabs”. But from a business standpoint, that will help supply for a short time until things even out, then cost the company more in the long run.
I’ve never seen arguments made for Apple purposely holding back supply when people couldn’t find an iPhone or iPod. Most I’ve seen that swear Nintendo is creating false buzz by supply are those that are fans of another console or upset they cannot find one. The Wii is hard to find because they are selling. It’s called simple economics. Deal with it.
Look TKWarrior, you really must stop putting words into the posts of others and start dealing with what they say not what rantings lie in your brain. Otherwise you just come across as a silly fanboy. Where did I say "artificial"? Talk about setting up strawmen!!
Yes, all simple economics: just like increasing supply to meet demand (or decreasing supply to increase demand). There is no excuse for not producing enough Wii consoles; they are small, relatively basic and profit making. Still want to talk economics?
No Nintendo have not taken advantage of the demand yet, but that does not mean they never will!! Or perhaps there's a Wii 2 in the works?
"Yes, all simple economics: just like increasing supply to meet demand (or decreasing supply to increase demand). There is no excuse for not producing enough Wii consoles; they are small, relatively basic and profit making. Still want to talk economics?"
This is an impressively dumb thing to say. You clearly never made it past the first WEEK of economics. Let me spell it out for you:
Yes, "increase supply to meet demand" is a sound basic principle. However, once supply is maximized within the currently available manufacturing infrastructure, if demand is still not met, the decision becomes a little more complicated. We can assume that Nintendo has its factories and its business partners' plants running at full capacity. If that is NOT ENOUGH, then the only way to increase supply further is to build more factories, or further supplement the infrastructure to support a higher manufacturing output. These kinds of modifications come with VERY HIGH FIXED COSTS, and if after 3 years of Wii production the volume is no longer necessary due to the insane demand subsiding to a more realistic level, those expenses have already been incurred and can't be reversed. Not to mention the fact that bringing in other business partners for the sake of more volume or building more plants for greater internal production creates a greater risk of a quality control lapse, and history tells us that Quality Control and Quality of Workmanship are two things that Nintendo takes VERY seriously. Microsoft has helpfully demonstrated what happens when you don't.
As TKWarrior said, in the LONG term, "increasing supply until you meet demand" is often NOT the most profitable strategy for a company, given the real world constraints. In Econ 101 it is, but that's because you're just learning about what the hell a supply and demand curve is.
Nintendo knows what they're doing. I wish I could say the same for you.
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The lack of Wiis is definitely a considered strategy from Nintendo. I don't believe for a second that the PS3 and 360 appeal to the same demographic as the Wii, therefore in hyping up demand - and therefore avoiding a price drop - there is little risk of losing customers to the competition (sic). As soon as their figures go down they'll up production.
For those who disagree that the lack of supply is different, could you give a valid reason why Nintendo cannot produce enough units? It's hardly at the nadir of technology and is probably as easy to build as a clock/radio. It's not like they are waiting for quicker processes to provide blue lasers or Cell chips......
It’s too easy to say Nintendo is holding off supply to artificially create demand when it has been as popular as it has been. Even Nintendo themselves admitted that they had no idea it would be so popular this last holiday season.
I could believe the ‘artificial demand’ conspiracy theory if it weren’t for the fact that they sold almost 14 million unit in one year. That’s a feat in itself for any new electronic product to market, especially when considering that the X360 hasn’t sold more globally and has been to retail a full year ahead of the Wii. This is with them opening upping production and diverting consoles to the US that were intended for other markets.
The argument could be made ‘Well contract more manufactures, open more fabs”. But from a business standpoint, that will help supply for a short time until things even out, then cost the company more in the long run.
I’ve never seen arguments made for Apple purposely holding back supply when people couldn’t find an iPhone or iPod. Most I’ve seen that swear Nintendo is creating false buzz by supply are those that are fans of another console or upset they cannot find one. The Wii is hard to find because they are selling. It’s called simple economics. Deal with it.
Look TKWarrior, you really must stop putting words into the posts of others and start dealing with what they say not what rantings lie in your brain. Otherwise you just come across as a silly fanboy. Where did I say "artificial"? Talk about setting up strawmen!!
Yes, all simple economics: just like increasing supply to meet demand (or decreasing supply to increase demand). There is no excuse for not producing enough Wii consoles; they are small, relatively basic and profit making. Still want to talk economics?
No Nintendo have not taken advantage of the demand yet, but that does not mean they never will!! Or perhaps there's a Wii 2 in the works?
Not exactly an honor student, were we, Jay?
"Yes, all simple economics: just like increasing supply to meet demand (or decreasing supply to increase demand). There is no excuse for not producing enough Wii consoles; they are small, relatively basic and profit making. Still want to talk economics?"
This is an impressively dumb thing to say. You clearly never made it past the first WEEK of economics. Let me spell it out for you:
Yes, "increase supply to meet demand" is a sound basic principle. However, once supply is maximized within the currently available manufacturing infrastructure, if demand is still not met, the decision becomes a little more complicated. We can assume that Nintendo has its factories and its business partners' plants running at full capacity. If that is NOT ENOUGH, then the only way to increase supply further is to build more factories, or further supplement the infrastructure to support a higher manufacturing output. These kinds of modifications come with VERY HIGH FIXED COSTS, and if after 3 years of Wii production the volume is no longer necessary due to the insane demand subsiding to a more realistic level, those expenses have already been incurred and can't be reversed. Not to mention the fact that bringing in other business partners for the sake of more volume or building more plants for greater internal production creates a greater risk of a quality control lapse, and history tells us that Quality Control and Quality of Workmanship are two things that Nintendo takes VERY seriously. Microsoft has helpfully demonstrated what happens when you don't.
As TKWarrior said, in the LONG term, "increasing supply until you meet demand" is often NOT the most profitable strategy for a company, given the real world constraints. In Econ 101 it is, but that's because you're just learning about what the hell a supply and demand curve is.
Nintendo knows what they're doing. I wish I could say the same for you.