Wii supply won't meet demand until 2009

IDC video game analyst, Billy Pidgeon, believes that Wii will continue strong growth even though supply issues are still very much a problem for Nintendo.

The first quarter of 2007 has got off to a flyer thanks to the Wii and DS Nintendo combo and the mighty PlayStation 2. "Q1 is looking like the beginning of an up-cycle year," said Pidgeon. "There's good software movement, but hardware is stalled a bit by short Wii supply and stagnant demand for 360 and PS3."

Figures coming from the US show that Sony sold 280,000 PS2s and 130,000 PS3s, which tells its own story. Nintendo sold 259,000 Wiis and Microsoft sold 199,000 Xbox 360s. But we all know that Nintendo could have sold a lot more units if it had any in stock.

"I believe the Wii will continue strong growth although supply continues to be a problem," Pidgeon continued. "I'd like to see Wii hardware shipping in larger quantities or mass market consumers may cool on it. Having said that, I don't believe supply will meet demand for the Wii until 2009. Xbox 360 and PS3 need system-selling games ASAP. Halo 3 will help, as will Lair and Heavenly Sword, but that leaves a hole in Q2 which will be filled by Wii, DS and PSP hardware and software. We'll also see more PC and PS2 software picking up the slack."

via cvg