Wii Shortage

[Slothy]

So the question is, how much demand is there really for the PS3--is Sony simply shipping out tons of consoles, causing there to be a supply at most stores, or is the thing simply not selling? Everyone on the net seems to assume it's the latter, and I'm sure that's at least partially true, but I have to wonder if maybe Sony is just doing a better job at manufacturing their console and getting it to store shelves. If that's just not the case, then the Wii shortages are pretty damn impressive.

For starters, I mean obviously the demand for something like the Wii is going to be higher than the PS3 right now just because it's rediculously cheap in comparison, but about whether there really is no demand for the PS3 or if they're just doing a good job making them, I wouldn't be surprised if it's a little of both. When I bought my PS3, it was the last one at the local EB. The next day, they had another shipment in. To anyone who didn't know better (say only goes in once every few weeks) it probably would have looked like they didn't sell any.

As for that info on units sold, it's most likely a month old at least (slightly more official sources haven't even gotten the January sales numbers out as far as I know), so considering that's about two months of PS3 sales, that's actually not that bad, and on pace to just about hit where the 360 was after a years time. With a price drop, you'll more than likely see sales pick up even more. Yeah the Wii numbers are pretty impressive right now in comparison, but anyone who didn't expect the Wii to outsell two consoles that are substantially more expensive has been living under a rock since the dawn of commerce. None of this means Sony's actually in trouble. In fact, if anyone bothered to pay attention to the games coming to the console rather than just the price tag (which will go down over time), they'd probably start to realize the PS3 is going to be a great system to own, just like all the others.

[Renmiri]

As a PS3 owner I tend to be a bit more favorable to Sony but as a former product manager I can tell you that 3 months might not be enough time to ramp up production if demand gets up a lot higher than expected

Still, the battle for the next generation wasn't solved this last Christmas, it is 2007's Christmas that might settle it. Until then, a lot of exciting things can happen. Grab a popcorn and watch the show.

[Dreddz]

As a PS3 owner I tend to be a bit more favorable to Sony but as a former product manager I can tell you that 3 months might not be enough time to ramp up production if demand gets up a lot higher than expected ;)

Thats plenty of time.

[Woodinator]

Just remember that there is a limit to how many consoles Nintendo can produce :P they probably just don't have the man/machine power to meet demand right now.

I managed to nab a wii of e-bay and i must say its pretty nice :P As for ps3...im waiting a while cause i dont have the money and the launch titles don't really impress me

[Roto13]

As a PS3 owner I tend to be a bit more favorable to Sony but as a former product manager I can tell you that 3 months might not be enough time to ramp up production if demand gets up a lot higher than expected ;)

Thats plenty of time.

How exactly do you know this?

[Renmiri]

Thats plenty of time.

tsk, tsk... You obviously never heard of supply chain... Even if Nintendo can ramp up production, what makes you think all their suppliers can do the same, at the drop of a hat ?

One little widget producer can't and the entire Wii shipment is delayed.

Fortunes are made or lost in accurate demand prediction nowadays where keeping extras in a warehouse is considered a sin by Wall Street.

[ljkkjlcm9]

I find it funny how the whole time people are saying Nintendo should be able to supply more systems. Guess what, Nintendo hasn't really even been shipping extra controllers to stores. They put almost all the controllers they make into a Wii system box(and now Wii Play). They're trying to meet demand, but it's pretty amazing when it's still selling out immediately when a store gets it, and on top of that, people are still sitting at home that want one, but aren't going to wait at the store for one, and that's the only way they can get it. The demand is basically absurd.

Oh btw, if you actually go to http://nexgenwars.com/, there are percents for the consoles. This is the percentage of people that prefer that system. I'll post it for you:
360: 29.3%
PS3: 17.9%
Wii: 52.8%

that means the Wii is favored by.... 23.5%... over the nearest competitor 360, and favored by 5.6% over the competitors combined....

this is only currently, it could change

THE JACKEL

[JKTrix]

Folks like Sony and Microsoft have been around the block. As a business, they are likely much more organized and have more resources than what Nintendo would have access to. So while MS or Sony could open up a whole new factory to mass produce more systems to fulfill demand, Nintendo may not have that luxury--regardless of the current success of the system. Both Microsoft and Sony can pull resources from other parts of the company (though I'm sure the games division has their own budget) when they need to take care of something like this, Nintendo is currently a pure 'just games' company.

Besides, I've had situations in my job where all of a sudden, one item starts selling like mad. So I order 3 times what I would normally order for stock, and then the items do not sell. I'm stuck with a lot of dead stock.

I'm not saying Nintendo will end up with dead stock of Wiis, but if they spend the money to make more 'Wii-making machines', what happens after demand drops off? They have more 'Wii makers' than they need, and they can't really use them for anything else (whereas Sony could hypothetically rewire them to make some TVs or something). It's impossible to predict what resources they would need to keep up with future demand, and whether or not that demand will sustain for a while.

Unless they do in fact make enough money to stop time.

Edit: As for Console Sales Charts, I trust www.vgcharts.org a lot more than 'nexgenwars.com'. They've been around longer and have a pretty good legacy behind them. Use both of them and compare accordingly.

[ljkkjlcm9]

Edit: As for Console Sales Charts, I trust www.vgcharts.org a lot more than 'nexgenwars.com'. They've been around longer and have a pretty good legacy behind them. Use both of them and compare accordingly.

They're very similar, your source actually says more Wii and PS3 than my source, but less 360... eh

THE JACKEL

[NINJA_Ryu]

Heh, when i declared my usual "O Ill pick it up in feburary.. By then itll calmed down a bit." I never expected to have my foot so crammed in my mouth.

[Shoeberto]

Heh, when i declared my usual "O Ill pick it up in feburary.. By then itll calmed down a bit." I never expected to have my foot so crammed in my mouth.

Same. Though apparently a friend of mine just managed to snag one.

[escobert]

Heh, when i declared my usual "O Ill pick it up in feburary.. By then itll calmed down a bit." I never expected to have my foot so crammed in my mouth.

Yeah, guess I'm going to be waiting a few more months.

[Roto13]

I was planning the same thing. It's only by luck and persistence that I managed to find one a month ago.

[Renmiri]

When I bought my PS3 they had both in stock at EBgames, now they still have PS3s but are completely out of Wii

[ljkkjlcm9]

just thought this belonged in this thread if any...

453,503 of the hard-to-find Wii consoles were purchased last month, which is 33% more than the widely available Xbox 360, which sold through more than 294k systems. The PS3 brought up the rear with 244k sold in January.

THE JACKEL