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Comment by DaveWalk | Hacker News Reader

Was it true that Nintendo held back some of its production of earlier consoles to spike demand? I remember it specifically with the Wii[0], but I seem to recall that their production was always playing catch up. Do you think it's an industry tactic?

[0]http://www.cio.com/article/2434123/supply-chain-management/n...

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The retro NES console that Nintendo released in November still cannot be bought in stores. Around the holidays, it was impossible to buy the DS, a system that is around 7 years old.

Nintendo is a billion dollar company. They've been around a long time. They could produce adequate supply if they wanted. It's seems pretty clear that they are not interested in satiating demand.

I'm not sure how 'spiking demand' when you have no product to sell, profits Nintendo.

I repeatedly hear that something being limited in some way gets Japanese customers really excited. Supposedly that why you even see themed cafes that only pop up for a limited time.

What better advertising than having a narrative where your product is "sold out" and in high demand, with media running stories about it ?

Especially when the "scarcity" problem can be addressed easily.

It can't be addressed quickly. Takes months to make more. Seems like having enough when folks are buying makes more sense, than a little free press and then maybe they'll still be interested in buying in a few months.

Forget about the Wii already?

This is their M.O. It happens with almost all of their hardware releases. They do it to generate hype by being able to say that they sold out, even if there were few units made.

Also I imagine it cuts down on assembly line costs.

I don't think anyone outside of Nintendo knows for sure. It could be that they are just very conservative with their estimates. They don't want a bunch of unsold hardware sitting around losing value.

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