DS lite in short supply
- Thread starter decto
- Start date
I really do think that Nintendo being a smaller company in the console market (compared to Sony and Microsoft) have had a hard time of dealing with their recent huge success. Their console and handheld is outselling the competition by a rather huge margin, but they just don't seem to have the capital to increase production enough to keep up.
The result is retailers taking advantage of the consumer and upping prices.
Good products tho (imo)
The result is retailers taking advantage of the consumer and upping prices.
Good products tho (imo)
although i have both nintendo products ds and wii i simply cannot understand what all the fuss sis about, i bought the ds for the wife for xmas all she does is shout blue blue black red lol, as far as the wii goes, we have 20+ games the only one that ever gets used is the game that comes with it, i cant believe there still so short stocked nearly 1 month after xmas then again knowing nintendo they do it to keep demand strong so good on them 
then again knowing nintendo they do it to keep demand strong so good on them
They are massively outselling the PS3 and 360 so yes, it is hard to keep up with demand.
knowing nintendo they do it to keep demand strong so good on them
Economics not your strong point, huh?
He wouldn't be the first person to suggest that stock is being held back on purpose though. I can imagine, in the first instance, it does help heighten demand. But when demand is clearly as high as it is, Nintendo must be wishing they were actually producing as much as they could sell - kinda obvious really.
I remember reading that Nintendo have always been a particularly cautious company, despite taking risks with the Wii and DS. Hence, short supplies of both games and hardware.
[EDIT: I'm kicking myself as back in April I popped into a local pawn shop, and saw a 2 month old white DS for £55. It was spotless, all manuals and boxes. Wish I'd have picked it up.]
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I really hate seeing comments saying Nintendo being small, or don't have the capital....
In the last financial reports sometime last year, Nintendo had something like $13 billion in the bank, much more than the whole of Sony, but of course not close to Microsoft, although their gaming division isn't known for making a profit! So capital is certainly not the problem for Nintendo.
Ramping up production is generally a slow process. Last November, the Wii was ramped up from 1.2million to 1.8 million a month with another assembly plant hired, and DS wise around 3 million are made a month.
It's not just a case of 'oh lets make more'. With each product being assembled from many, many parts - it's then up to individual manufacturers to be able to all supply more when required. It can take months for silicon wafers to go through the whole etching process to create the processors etc so that really adds to the lead time. LCD screens. Optical Drives. Plastic Mouldings. So many suppliers in the chain for each of the Wii and the DS. It's not a case of money, but time, and relying on each company to deliver ontime otherwise the final assembly will be at a stand still. The process of ramping up production can't happen over night, realistically you are talking a matter of months till extra units are shipping.