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Platform holder Nintendo has promised to bring more Wii and DS stock into the UK this Christmas than ever before, to cope with ‘unprecedented’ demand.
The firm has told MCV that console production is at its highest level in the company’s history, with Wii sales up 76 per cent and DS sales up 27 per cent over the previous year.
"To meet the continually increasing demand for our products, Nintendo is bringing more stock of Wii and DS into the UK this Christmas than ever before,” said a Nintendo spokesperson.
We have increased our global production of Wii consoles by 600,000 units per month from 1.8 million to 2.4 million since July this year – the highest level of console production in our history. As a result we are planning to ship 26.5 million Wii’s and 30.5 million Nintendo DS globally this financial year, that’s eight million more Wii and five million more Nintendo DS consoles than last year.
Demand for Wii and Nintendo DS in the UK remains at unprecedented levels. Sales across Europe are outstripping last year with sales of Wii up over 76 per cent and sales of DS up over 27 per cent.”
Nintendo has stated the reason for chronic Wii and DS stock shortages has been down to the growth in non-traditional gamers, which has made it hard for them to accurately predict sales:
Nintendo is continuing to expand the market for video games as its Wii and DS continue to appeal to a broad audience including women and non-gamers,” continued Nintendo. This expansion has lead to huge demand for both Wii and Nintendo DS all year round, which is in complete contrast to traditional video games sales trends and has been – and remains – difficult to accurately predict.
We’re very sorry if anyone has trouble getting their hands on our products but rest assured that we are doing everything we can to avoid disappointing people this Christmas."
