Image courtesy of Kotaku.
It’s no secret that Nintendo loves to play the ‘we never anticipated this much demand, so we’re fresh out of stock’ bull honky, so it really shouldn’t come as a surprise that the Wii Fit is sold out across the country. Nintendo is playing it smart here in the US. We all want what we can’t have, though that argument could be said about our species and not our place of residence. That’s an entirely different argument that has no place here, but I think you get my point. These people could don’t give a rat’s ass about the Wii Fit. That much is for sure.
Nintendo is shorting the US and redirecting units of Wii Fit to Europe to capitalize on the strength of the Euro.
It also is shrewdly maximizing its profit by sending four times as many units to Europe, reaping the benefits of the strong euro, said Michael Pachter, an analyst with Wedbush Morgan Securities.
“The shortage demonstrates one consequence of the weak dollar. We’re seeing companies ignore their largest market simply because they can make a greater profit elsewhere,” Pachter said.
“They know that Americans will be just as fat a few months from now” when Nintendo will have more units available, he said.
That last one is a killer because it’s true.
But the Wii’s runaway success could backfire if Nintendo is unable to manage consumer expectations, said Billy Pidgeon, an analyst with research firm IDC.
“That’s a tough line to tread,” Pidgeon said. “When does the consumer get frustrated and move on?
“So far, the Wii still has cachet,” he said. “But the fact that consumers can’t find a Wii or a Wii Fit is definitely a missed opportunity.”
I don’t agree with this statement because it’s been almost two years since the Wii launched and people are still scrambling around to find one and some are paying above retail. Kids, especially, want what they can’t have and a lot of parents give in to their shrill little voices and don’t know how to say no.
Of course, the only reason I ‘d want a Wii and Wii Fit is so that I can watch my girlfriend, if I had one, do this.