The weak U.S. dollar may have been the culprit of the Wii shortage. http://nintendoworldreport.com/newsArt.cfm?artid=15677 Game industry analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Morgan believes the shortage of Wii systems in the United States should soon be a thing of the past.
Speaking to the Dallas Morning News, Pachter said he believes the Wii shortage was caused by the weak U.S. dollar. By selling excess product in European countries with a strong Euro, Nintendo makes more profit when the money is exchanged to their native Yen.
Nintendo has stressed their desire to have a global community with the Wii. However, Pachter said diverting product for profit is definitely what happened. The good news for Americans, he declared, is that demand in Europe is dwindling and Wii shortages in the United States will soon be a thing of the past.
Nintendo's response to Wii shortages has been cryptic and usually blamed on production, but diverting Wii systems to Europe might also explain the company's ambivalence to addressing the issue.
The Dallas Morning News' Victor Godinez, who spoke with Pachter, summed up his thoughts on the matter. "No one wants to hear that they're second-class customers, but that's exactly what we American gamers are right now," he said.