Nintendo Manufacturing

chimaera

chimaera

chimaera

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Can anyone shed any light as to why Nintendo are having/had so many manufacturing shortages over the past 2 years? I initially gave them the benefit of the doubt because of the unprecedented demand for the Wii but i'm beginning to think that they're bordering on incompetant.

Wii console itself - Shortages at xmas for 2 years running in multiple regions.
Wii Fit - sold out before it's release date
Mario Kart - very difficult to find, not even in many online retailers top 10 Wii games due to lack of stock.
Wii Play - only started to be easily available since xmas in the last couple of months.

I believe there's been similar problems for Smash Bros in the US and Japan.

I refuse to believe it's about artificially creating demand because the demand is there already yet they're not shipping to stores, therefore the only conclusion that i can come up with is that there's some serious issues that they need to get a grip with, this wasn't a problem with Halo 3 and GTA4 shortages are a week at best.

Yes you can preorder but for a game like Wii Fit that is priced highly and had mixed reviews it's not always that straightforward.

Discuss...
 
I've honestly not noticed any shortages in anything other than the Wii Console.

I preordered and picked my Wii up on release day, and the store I got it from had plenty in stock. Like you said though, it was mainly the whole Xmas thing with shortages for that.

Can still walk in to stores around here and buy Wii Fit, Mario Kart and Wii Play too. Wii Fit can be hit and miss in some stores, but Mario Kart and Wii Play are always in stock :confused:
 
I don't think it's fair to compare manufacturing discs (as in the case of Halo 3 and GTA4) to the production of hardware.

Nintendo have always been cautious with their production; although by now you'd hope they realise the demand needs meeting.
 
Well its not just the Wii remember they are also trying to manufacture enough DS's to meet demand.

One last thing Demand for the Wii has been very unexpected the wii right now in less than 2 year sold more the gamecube did in 5 years, so that how high the demand is for the Wii and you can’t expect any company to meet that sort of demand.
 
The cynic in me says that its to increase the 'want' factor in the general public- would it have been as popular if it wasn't hard to get at Christmas?

My other suggestion would be perhaps they know the demand is there and people are buying them as they are made but they have reached capacity with their manufacturers. They could contract out more companies to build the parts but the cost involved would mean they wouldn't make any extra profit.
 
Hardware manufacturing is outsourced, just like Sony and Microsoft do too.

Last year, they had two production lines going, each producing 600,000 Wiis a month. Last Autumn they ramped up a third production line giving a total of 1.8M Wiis being produced a month. And again, Nintendo are now ramping up to 2.4M Wiis a month for summer. That's a heck of a lot of hardware to produce a month!

With so many suppliers in the loop, from components to cases it takes time for all companies involved to increase supply when Nintendo cracks the whip to increase Wii production. With silicon wafers taking 2-3 months to produce from start to finish any increase in ordering by Nintendo will take a couple months for that to filter through in terms of actual completed parts - so that'll affect Hollywood and Broadway production.
 
nikebee said:
Can still walk in to stores around here and buy Wii Fit, Mario Kart and Wii Play too. Wii Fit can be hit and miss in some stores, but Mario Kart and Wii Play are always in stock :confused:
Click to expand...

Maybe it's just in major retail centres, i can't find either fit or kart within 5 miles of my workplace in central London, my sister lives in Exeter and the stores have all sold out.

Syph said:
I don't think it's fair to compare manufacturing discs (as in the case of Halo 3 and GTA4) to the production of hardware.
Click to expand...

I think my gripe is that Ninty have had major shortages in both hardware and software, if it were just one i'd understand but it just seems to happen again and again, MS handled a worldwide launch for Halo 3, yet at the moment Nintendo can barely handle a regional one for games in demand.
 
Nintendo run a very lean business and prefer to err on the side of caution when deciding on how much to produce. They have always tried to not have too much stock of anything as that wastes a lot of money.
 
chimaera said:
Wii Fit - sold out before it's release date
Mario Kart - very difficult to find, not even in many online retailers top 10 Wii games due to lack of stock.
Click to expand...

Bought both on release day, and i could have bought dozens when i did.
Wii Fit i got at lunchtime and Mario Kart i got after dinner.

I was told before by an employee of one of the shops i used to get on not bad with, that Nintendo where always chronicly bad at resupplying. Put in orders and you wait an age.
Said they where always bang on for releases, but after that, forget it. Dunno what it is? Lazyness? Poor distribution practises?
 
Stubbornness I imagine. a lot of Japanese businesses are stubborn and believe they are correct (Sony are guilty of this too but in other ways) and they don't like to change the way they operate their business once they've made a decision.

the quicker they grow out of this the better it will be for everyone.
 
chimaera said:
I think my gripe is that Ninty have had major shortages in both hardware and software, if it were just one i'd understand but it just seems to happen again and again, MS handled a worldwide launch for Halo 3, yet at the moment Nintendo can barely handle a regional one for games in demand.
Click to expand...

But all the titles you mentioned had peripherals or hardware as part of that package. That would account for some of the delay.

In terms of actual software, I've only experienced difficulties in buy Mario & Sonic and Super Mario Galaxy. However, I didn't attempt to buy either of these titles at the off. And I say difficulty with M&S, I mean I couldn't just walk into any store and had to do a bit of searching.

I acknowledge the shortages, certainly. I'm sure it's down to Wrathamon and Kreeeeeeeeeeeeee's prior answers.
 
with Wii Fit and Mario Kart, it's not just the disc / box they have to make, it's the extra hardware too

sure the wheel is just a lump of plastic, but the box is about 4x thicker than a normal game, meaning 4x less can be transported compared to a normal game, and Wii Fit has the massive balance board thing

It was obvious that GTA4 would do well, because of it's predecessors

Nintendo could never have predicted how well the Wii would have sold, it's the only console you could imagine your mum giving playing, because it's pretty gimmicky.

I just hope they make Mario Kart 2, with a map maker!
 
Kreeeee said:
Nintendo run a very lean business and prefer to err on the side of caution when deciding on how much to produce. They have always tried to not have too much stock of anything as that wastes a lot of money.
Click to expand...


hit the nail on the head tbh, nintendo regardless of the amount of money they have and can generate arent as big as sony and ms so it makes sense for them not to over produce. as has been mentioned before in regards to the gamecube nintendo stopped producing them mid cycle because they had a stock pile of cubes because they didnt sell well
 
Tunney said:
SMG was near impossible to find for a long time
Click to expand...

It didn't seem to be around here, apart from the couple of Christmas weeks. Was widely available just after Christmas and on release.

JUMPURS said:
Maybe everyone realized it was pointless and not any good so they stopped making it?
Click to expand...

It's supposed to be alright, seeing as it's essentially just a training game for the Zapper itself. I'm surprised that the Zapper doesn't seem to be widely available if LCT isn't.

It's obvious though that a kick up the bum is needed in terms of production, but I can't see Nintendo changing a habit of a lifetime.
 
As several people have said it tends to be the hardware that is the issue - to ramp up production they need to
A: Organise a suitable factory, preferably one they've dealt with before and has a known QC standard ;)
B: Organise additional parts - which can be pretty hard when you're dealing with custom pieces or any sort, let alone a number of customised IC's only made by one (possibly two) companies each, when those same companies might already be running their fabrication plants at or near full capacity.
C: Sort out any legal issues with the ramping up of production - does any of the stuff need to have licences renegotiated (if any of the parts have patents owned by another company/made under licence).

There is also the attitude of Japanese companies in general of "we know what's best", although i'm not sure how much that applies to Nintendo.
I know with some companies they really can screw up their overseas branches by trying to sell things in the US/EU at the same price they do in Japan (for DVD's for example one of the Japanese companies is currently trying to sell stuff in the US for the same price as Japan, ignoring the fact that they are selling it at about 4x the normal US cost, and without basic features expected for that market).
 
I guess i can partly let them off, although for a game like Wii Fit i think they spread their stock too thin across the globe in order to fit the release schedule, i'd rather they released in europe later with plenty of stock than sell out continuously.

I popped into a couple of game stores on the way home today and a couple had Wii Fit but were only selling it if you bought the console. I guess it's this kind of profiteering (along with bulk ebay buyers) that exacerbates the problem.

No sign of Mario Kart though online or in any store i've called.
 
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