Nintendo defends UK Wii supply

The console still appears to be selling out around the UK, although Nintendo insists it has delivered on its promise of a "steady stream" of shipments.

While gamers will have had no problem getting hold of a PlayStation 3 over the console's European launch weekend, it is a different story for those searching to buy a Nintendo Wii.

The Wii was launched in Europe on December 8, with Nintendo promising in a statement that it would "maximise all resources for a repaid replenishment program to consistently pump Wii consoles into the supply pipeline." Right now, in both the US and the UK, however, it seems consumers have to move quickly to find one.

The only outlets where customers could easily get hold of a Wii seemed to be auction Web site eBay, where the console is currently selling at an average price of £200 (RRP £179), and the Amazon Marketplace. Retailers--including GameStation, Play.com, Amazon UK, and Game--were all out of stock at the time of going to press, according to online stock-checking sites.

A Nintendo spokesperson told GameSpot that the company has indeed been making regular shipments of the console since its launch, although he declined to give figures. He said, "It is still very much the case that regular shipments of Wii are being made to retailers across the UK and have been since launch. It's simply a fact that demand remains incredibly high for Wii with some retailers reporting higher interest now than at launch. Every unit we make right now is selling."

He urged those wishing to buy a Wii to "not give up" and to try using sites such as Yahoo, which have search functions to check stock levels at a variety of stores.

243 Comments

  • Chef_Bretz

    Posted Apr 30, 2007 7:10 am PT

    Errr I'll believe when I see it Nintendo. Absolutely no one I know has actually managed to get a Wii yet (still!). Very poor.

  • Thorpe89 Site moderator

    Posted Apr 2, 2007 5:20 pm PT

    As soon as I find one (one day) I'll try and get it!

  • MikeHumphreys

    Posted Mar 29, 2007 12:04 pm PT

    I got mine 7am on launch date without any queuing and I live in the UK.

  • matrixman2k

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 6:41 pm PT

    Good news for the big N anyway.

  • YukoAsho

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 3:19 pm PT

    Yeah. My local Gamestop hasn't gotten any this month. Clearly Nintendo's holding them back to create artificial demand. It's just too damned crazy for a system this simple to make to be this hard to stock. Either they're holding them in a warehouse, or they need to switch production plants. I'm guessing it's the former.

    And can we PLEASE stop talking about the Wii appealing to non-gamers? It's WAY too early to make that assessment. Oh I've no doubt there are some parents getting them for their kids, but does ANYONE honestly believe that nongamers would go through the sort of nonsense you have to go through to get a Wii now? Spending days looking at stores, camping out in front of Toys R Us, spending stupidly on eBay? We're not talking about non-gamers going nuts for the most part.

  • sumo1973

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 3:12 pm PT

    Nintendo can defend whatever they want but if people are starting to give up waiting they will go elsewhere. Simple as that. If Nintendo can't sort this out by Xmas 2007 then they will lose a hole heap of money. They will already lose out on people buying consoles over Easter.

  • NJTsunami

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 2:24 pm PT

    Interesting that the smiley face came up for the number eight. Eight was the magic number.

  • NJTsunami

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 2:23 pm PT

    People...let's use a little common sense here, please. How many stores do you think Nintendo has to make Wii's for in a given two week period worldwide!?!?! Why don't we do some quick numbers just for the U.S.

    Target: 1,500 stores
    Toys r' Us: 587 stores
    WalMart: 3,900 stores
    Gamestop/EB Games: 3,800 stores Best Buy: 930 stores
    Circuit City: 641 stores

    Just these stores alone total 10,717 in the U.S. So, based on -Squirrel-'s number of 6-10 Wiis every two weeks (we'll say , that is 85,735 Wii's. And god knows there are thousands of other stores and Web sites that that sell it as well, U.S and worldwide, and some get more Wii's than others. And how long do you think it takes to make all the components in the numbers they are requiring?

    My point - stop your whining people and use your heads!!!

  • Dynomite_D

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 2:10 pm PT

    I just finally was able to find one. I still had to be constantly phoning different suppliers until I found a source, and waited from 5 am to pick one up. that's how it is up here in Canada.

    Been having a great time since I plugged her in.

  • chocolate1325

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 12:27 pm PT

    I am enjoying the Wii it's better than PS3 and XBox 360

  • Timstuff

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 12:01 pm PT

    LOL, and there I was 4 months ago thinking Nintendo was going to be stupid and not drum up artificial demand... I should give them more credit, because that's exactly what they're doing, only they're taking it way further. Looks like what I predicted all those months ago of PS3s being in miniscule shipments and outrageous demand, and a Wii-staturated market with more than they can sell, were completely backwards. LOL

  • -Squirrel-

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 11:58 am PT

    I work at a fairly prominent electronics store and my number 1 question everyday is, "Do you have any Wii's?" Followed by, "When do you think you will get some in?" The demand is astronomically high. Now it is true that we only get about 6-10 Wii's about every 2 weeks,but it isn't Nintendo holding them back that makes it this way. They have to send them to every gaming/electronics store in the world, and they can only make them so fast. If they didn't sell out in the first 15 minutes every time than no one would even notice, but seeing how demand is forcing constant sellouts than there in nothing you ever see but an empty spot where the Wii is suppose to sit. They have shipped over 6 million, thats a lot especially seeing how no one anticipated the huge demand.

  • 2door

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 11:45 am PT

    What they have to do in the UK is limit one wii per person. In Canada in the begining people would buy 4 wii's and keep one and sell 3. So unless they do that in the UK its the stores fault not NIntendo's. Plus people think about they have sold more than 1 million wii's per months thats really good the 360 is under that avergae by alot in a year i estimate the wii having over 12 million wii's on the market

  • TheBates

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 11:29 am PT

    I've been trying to get a Wii since December. I have no intention of buying one over e-bay. It's ridiculous.

  • gatsbythepig

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 9:47 am PT

    I got mine so I am happy

  • blue-fish

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 9:34 am PT

    What the heck are Nintendo doing? Normally I trust them with things like this, but I'm smelling the odor of manipulation on this one.

  • qasimqc

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 8:14 am PT

    Nintendo is BS a lot, i went to my local Game store and the guy working there told me they only receive about 5 console an average every 2 weeks, local HMV is telling similar numbers. And local HMV also sold 400 PS3 on Friday, so i don't know where Nintendo are getting this demand exceeding supply bull, clearly they aren't supplying enough units to shops.

  • bghattas

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 7:59 am PT

    I wonder if Nintendo is BSing everybody? Why can't anyone find a Wii in stores 4 months after launch? Did they really move all those units or do they shoot numbers out of their butt like The Weather Network does for forecasts in Ottawa? The system is mediocre-to-average at best but there are games I want to play like Super Paper Mario and the longer I go waiting the faster I might just pass on the Wii. It's frustrating. Then again, this is Nintendo we're talking about.

  • NY_Yankees_Fan

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 7:31 am PT

    That's all the Wii is worth,I heard they get like 50 dollars in profit or something like that,does anybody know?

  • andytabor99

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 7:29 am PT

    how are nintendo losing money? the make a clear profit from every wii sold.

  • hiren_nfsmw

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 7:01 am PT

    The reason is that Nintendo are losing money aswell not just gaining becuase of the hideously low price of the Wii which is taking them down...

  • chrisdojo

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 6:32 am PT

    pretty cool that the demand still exceeds the # of units being produced.

  • merch

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 5:54 am PT

    well nintendo is all one company like there wii and ds is one department look they had to get the ds production up too im guessing the wii will be in stores by may were u can finally walkin and buy one since u still cant find one good thing i have one.

    this is talking about uk shortages theres shortages around the whole world.

  • tidyspidey

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 5:35 am PT

    I do get the feeling that really, by now - 3-4 months after launch, Nintendo are more than capable of sorting out stock issues to meet demand....

    Why else are they being so silent on actual shipped numbers? If they were making Wii's at full steam and literally selling every one of them instantly as they say, then they would be singing from the rooftops in Bill and Ken's face with the biggest, loudest megaphone they could find.

    Nintendo must be deliberately holding back consoles for hype.

    If I didn't want a Wii so much, I would have to say that it's a stroke of genius.

    About time too..... I was pretty scared that Gamecube would kill them.... thought that the cube was Nintendo's "dreamcast" swansong....

    Oh, how wrong I was

  • chikahiro94

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 4:08 am PT

    @snakenamedjoe
    Are you sure Atari crashed the industry? I read one or two places suggesting the "crashes" where what we now recognize as a game generation's life-cycle coming to an end, but with no immediate, planned replacement like we've seen every generation since the 8-bit/NES/MS days were succeeded by the 16-bit Genesis/T16/SNES systems, so on and so forth...

    Beyond that, how many systems were out there back then? I remember Atari, Collecovision, Vetrex, etc.

  • ChitoKiryoku

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 3:56 am PT

    if it's true that they're selling every unit they make then... wow, talk about a huge success. Glad I've had one for a long time ^^

  • mugimugi

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 3:24 am PT

    Still wish I could get an hold of my Wii :/ been trying for months now and it's not even fun anymore.

  • GrimBee

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 3:10 am PT

    The strange thing is - if the amount of ps3's there are now in the uk, were wii's - they would be all sold out in a week...

    The wii is a massive success in the UK, and you can tell this simply buy stores showing their stock of games (etc).
    I mean, the ps3 section is ABYSMAL in comparision to the wii's (when the wii wasn't even OUT).
    There is a whole half wall dedicated to the wii, but a tiny corner (previously occupied by the original xbox) for the ps3...

    It just goes to show how powerful Nintendo have gotten. As soon as their stock problems iron out, and more games get released - word of mouth for the wii will be HUGE... things like "oh did you play THAT game on the wii? its so cool!" etc.
    I think quirky games, like the brain training game, will be enough to sell a console. Heck, the wii is £79.99 MORE than a DS--- and exactly the same price as a PSP!!

    The wii satisfies impulse buyers, some families even want two wii's per household...
    Ps3 is not such an impulse buy, its for the hd nut, or the psgeek...(at the moment). Nintendo are having a tough time making more than they sell because the console appeals to more than just gamers now. Good on ya Nintendo... look at www.nexgenwars.com to see the sales figures. Already Nintendo have over 5 million sold!!

  • rodimus_prime85

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 2:50 am PT

    Pure B.S. I've been after a Wii for months, and while I can find second hand Wii's at CEX, and eBay people are asking up to £250 for a console that should be £180. eBay has new consoles but its the same story...

    I want to buy one direct from a store NEW... And Nintendo is providing enough consoles. End of story. Their lying just to make the Wii look good.

  • snakenamedjoe

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 2:36 am PT

    "darendt69 ketsuatama UMMM....Nintendo was huge, but Atari was first for sure. They were key in bringing video games into the home. Nintendo improved upon this, but we cant forget that Atari led the way."

    I don't know. Atari chashed the entire game industry. Twice! The whole industry almost folded before Nintendo came along to save the day. Without Nintendo none of us would have our favorite passtime, as it just never would have become a profitable industry. Sony and Microsoft wouldn't have gotten into the business if they had been looking at Atari's track record for failure, and Sega would never have even beel allowed in stores if retailers hadn't experienced the success of NES.

    The Nintendo was not allowed in stores when it was first released. Nintendo made a deal with a retail chain in New York. The promissed to buy back any system which did not sell and they provided the stores with their own people to come in and stock the shelves, sell the systems, and take down any unsold units and displays after a certain time period. They basically made a guarantee that the company could not possibly lose money on the system, something that has probably never been done before or after by any company in the world with any product, period. This unprecedented and bold move led to the overwhelming success of the NES and the reacceptance of video games as a viable market worldwide.

  • shamarke

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 1:37 am PT

    what happend to Wii!?

  • Chef_Bretz

    Posted Mar 27, 2007 12:50 am PT

    DEAR NINTENDO - YOU SIMPLY ARE NOT SHIPPING ENOUGH TO THE UK. SORT IT, PEOPLE ARE STARTING TO FEEL LET DOWN BY YOU NINTENDO.

  • franksterlobo

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 11:52 pm PT

    NINTENDO is not shipping enough!.. Period! I've always been a supporter of NINTENDO but they have let alot of us down. I'm still a NINTENDO supporter, but it sucks for some if not all people from having to buy an over-priced Wii console on Ebay?...By the way, I love playing ALL Video game systems if I could get my hands on it.

  • darendt69

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 11:49 pm PT

    ketsuatama UMMM....Nintendo was huge, but Atari was first for sure. They were key in bringing video games into the home. Nintendo improved upon this, but we cant forget that Atari led the way.

  • ketsuatama

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 11:37 pm PT

    Nintendo is on a real winner here and every gamer who has been weaned on various iterations of the Nintendo rigs should be appluading. Sure, most of us now have 360s and or PS3s but, hey, Nintendo were the guys we owe a debt too for making home video game consoles universally acceptable and desirable!

  • UrbanMessiah

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 11:37 pm PT

    Man, it must be nice for a company to hear that the major complaint about them is that they can't make their product fast enough to meet demand for it. Good on you, Nintendo...Now just make something that I'd like to play so i can want one, too! -=x

  • sainraja

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 11:09 pm PT

    Where I work it was weeks after we got 15 units. It wasn't every week or every two weeks.....I would say at least a month after we recieved 15 units that we could sell to consumers. Is Nintendo really shipping enough?

  • lioyd123456789

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 11:05 pm PT

    Jazizzle news flash the wii is probably gonna win the console war like it is rite now 5,222,821 wiis have already been sold. already and only 10,845,736 xbox360s have been sold. thats almost have already n under a half a year. the ps3 has only sold 1,845,077

  • Tenjikuronin

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 10:07 pm PT

    Sounds like the Wii is doing quite well...

  • malmeid2

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 8:31 pm PT

    Wii is Wiik. Very weak. Last week.

  • cancer_777

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 8:20 pm PT

    Wii is hard to find because remember that part of the inventory bound for USA gets "detoured" to South America, every time I go to the local mall I drool at the Wiis on display. the only reason I havent buy one is that the asking price is $450 so Im patiently waiting to buy one online and have it shipped to my country. In case you are wondering yes people do buy at those prices... the alternative is a $1000 PS3 or a $650 X360. (the reason for the high prices is that usually the consoles are bought from a major retailer and then shipped to South America, that could be the reason why the Wiis disappear even before people get to the store.)

  • bgres077

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 8:09 pm PT

    Meh, cry about it. I had to stand in line in 30 degree weather for an hour for mine... three and a half months after launch!

  • Jazizzle

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 8:06 pm PT

    nintendo's probably shipping like 2 wiis per store making it seem like there in high demand , trying to hype things up thats all cuz wii aint gonna win the console war guaranteed

  • Doomsday0812

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 7:14 pm PT

    nah i dont think nintendo is ling about it...i talk to the supervisor/manager (whatever u wanna call em) at game crazy n he said he gets Wii's in all the time and sells out within an hour of opening the store..
    & also i have seen people lining up out infront for target and the walmart i live by the day a store is set to get more wii...i talked to a friend in electronics at the target n he told me people always find out when they are getting more wii's and people line up in front of the store before it opens that day.

    (& im not just making this stuff up..i own a 360 and a wii and will most likely be getting a ps3 as soon as i start working again in 2 weeks so im not trying to just ad on to the wii hype..i want them to all do well because it'll mean more games for me)

  • bob_newman

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 7:12 pm PT

    http://nexgenwars.com/
    This website claims they know how many Wii's, ps3's and 360's have been sold so far. They keep track of it every day, though I don't know where they're getting their information. If their information is true though, it shows how high the demand for the Wii is. Notice how many Wii consoles have been sold in about 5 months. Compare it to the 360, which has been out for a year and 5 months. Check it out.

  • Dirk13

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 6:59 pm PT

    i have been inside of plenty of retail chains since the Wii came out and i have never seen one on a shelf.

    is it selling alot? sure, but i'm really starting to think either Nintendo is lying like all the other guys did to creat their demand and good PR for not having their systems available, or they just are really bad at this "steady stream" stuff, since it's been months since i actually heard of a new shipment.

  • kith_kat

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 6:56 pm PT

    it still selling here in the US isnt it? cuz i never seen any in stock at any stores yet

  • Valen_Ca

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 6:36 pm PT

    Wow, I didn't think the Wii was still selling that well, I am kind of interested as to why they are still seeing shortages though, I was under the impression that they were ramping up production late last month.

  • Doomsday0812

    Posted Mar 26, 2007 6:23 pm PT

    there was 30+ wii's (43 to be exact) (on lUS launch day) at the target i live by in northern cali...but they also sold out within 10 minutes after the store opened lol havent seen any on store shelves since then though..

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