Nintendo Chief Says Wii Demand to Exceed Supply in Holiday Season

President and CEO of Nintendo of America Reggie Fils-Amie has said despite the company's Wii console being the top seller ever since it hit the market last November, they had still been unable to fulfill customer demand. He also said that was how he expected the situation to remain for the next few months as sales reached a cerscendo during the holiday season.

Nintendo came out with the Wii console about a year ago, and ever since it has been beating its competitors consistently and by good margins. However, instead of the market being saturated with the product, there has been a relentless increase in demand. That in itself is a resounding statement about the mammoth popularity the console enjoys among users.

Speaking with the San Jose Mercury News, Fils-Amie confessed the company had been unable to keep up its end of the bargain in the demand-supply equation. He said all over the world, Nintendo’s Wii had met with smashing success. The more Wii consoles the company has downloaded onto the market, the more customers have picked them up, he said.

Fils-Amie said the company would not be able to guarantee that all customers got a console each during the holiday season. While the company was going all out to ensure everyone got their consoles, it was almost a certainty that there would be a few left holding the bag, he said.

During the course of the interview, Fils-Amie further clarified the inability to meet the demands of the customers was not because of a failing or flaw on the part of the company. He said it was more because of a flaw in the economics of the whole situation. He said while the company’s strategy at the time of the launch had been aggressive; they had failed to read accurately the demand the product would generate.

Fils-Amie said the demand for the product had been way more than the company had envisaged. He said once they realized the demand was way higher than the supply, it was not a simple matter to just reverse the trend by upping the production; that was a process that took its own time. However, looking at the current trend, one can say that the trend would be reversed, but it would take a while for that to happen.