GameStop: Unprecedented Demand To Drive Wii Shortage Through Christmas

Newly promoted GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo predicts that consumers will see a continued shortage of Wii consoles this Christmas due to unprecedented demand. "I've never seen this type of demand before," says DeMatteo in an interview with game news site GameDaily. "I know they're making more, but we're still short like everybody else. I think we'll have a continued shortage this Christmas." Earlier this year, DeMatteo said that the company did not expect availability for the Wii to meet demand all the way through September 2008. The May release of Wii Fit has further bolstered demand for the system, serving as what GameStop described as "the most significant addition that will drive hardware sales." Though Nintendo has increased hardware production, the console's supply is still limited in North America. DeMatteo does not believe that Wii shortages will end in the near term unless supply is ramped up even further, adding, "I think they've ramped it up 20 percent or so, but Nintendo is fairly cautious by nature. They ramped it up 20 [percent] and it's still evaporating." As they release their predictions ahead of August NPD, industry analysts like Wedbush Morgan's Michael Pachter and Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian also point to Wii supply constraints as a factor in the current hardware market.