According to Victor Godinez of dallasnews.com, the real culprit behind the shortage of Wii consoles in the Americas is the weak US Dollar. With realistic fears of an economic recession looming in the USA, Nintendo are currently making much higher profits from selling Wii in Europe. In the last year, the value of €1 (Euro Currency) has rocketed from $1.35 all the way to $1.51.
In an interview with GameStop analyst Michael Pachter, Godinez asked how an economic slowdown might affect the availability of the Wii. Pachter claims that Nintendo are behaving "perfectly rationally" in their marketing strategy, that is, sending extra numbers of Wii consoles to Europe in order to "satisfy the more profitable consumers there". But as the demand for Nintendo products in Europe is now reaching a plateau stage, surplus systems should find themselves steadily filtering into the American market.
An explanation on the source website explains all these economics rather well:
With a weak dollar, foreign companies that sell their goods in the U.S. for dollars and then convert those dollars to their native currencies get a smaller profit than if they sell their products in countries with strong currencies of their own (such as Europe with the Euro). In other words, Nintendo makes a bigger profit on Wiis sold in Europe than on Wiis sold in the U.S.
It is a reasonable assumption that Nintendo may be waiting furthermore for the US Dollar to stabilize itself once again; which may just happen as European demand for Wii starts its levelling-out phase. Opinions as always in the forum.
Written By: Aaron Hastings
So...this guy is saying that they're sending more Wii's to Europe huh? Then why are they giving them the games last if it's worth so much?
I suppose that makes sense, just give us the games!
It's that the US dollar is worth less than the euro, but I surely wouldn't call it weak. Anyways Alex brings up a good point. If they're shipping more Wii's to Europe then why aren't they trying to send them the games as well.
It's that the US dollar is worth less than the euro, but I surely wouldn't call it weak. Anyways Alex brings up a good point. If they're shipping more Wii's to Europe then why aren't they trying to send them the games as well.
Have you been watching the news at all lately? The dollar is one of the most critically weak currencies in the western world at the moment and keeps on dropping. Last year when we bought dollars for our vacation to America they cost $1.35 for each €1. Now we're getting $1.51. That's not only bad, that's weak, and as I said it keeps dropping. Every time I watch the news it seems to go down by another cent.
Of course, we're not complaining. We cashed €2000 last year and we got $2700, now we're getting $3020!
^ I'm going with that answer.
The US dollar is weak and it is effecting trade. We pay £180 for the Wii which is $359 US dollars (when converted). However Americans pay, I believe $250, so you can see how Nintendo makes a lot more money in Europe.
Hmmmm I guess this makes sense. I guess this means they're all not about the customer.
Hmmmm I guess this makes sense. I guess this means they're all not about the customer.
All that 'it is the costumer that matters' is all bs and always will be. These are businesses, they want money.
Hmmmm I guess this makes sense. I guess this means they're all not about the customer.
Has anyone read my sig? Nintendo is a business. They will strive to make as much money as possible purely because that's the defining point of a business; provide service, make money, bring consumer back for more, make more money, rinse and repeat.
I know all that, it's just that I wish a company would just care about the costumer.
Hmmmm I guess this makes sense. I guess this means they're all not about the customer.
Has anyone read my sig? Nintendo is a business. They will strive to make as much money as possible purely because that's the defining point of a business; provide service, make money, bring consumer back for more, make more money, rinse and repeat.
Cosmic and Cappin' pretty much sum up why Nintendo have chosen to do this. They love money.
I know all that, it's just that I wish a company would just care about the costumer.
Because that is not what a business is.
Nintendo is like a girlfriend, they put a smile on your face but do come with costs.
You know, I thought it was weird that even though demand hasn't dipped we've actually got stock 80% of the time.
At one point we had less PS3s than Wiis O_O
You know, I thought it was weird that even though demand hasn't dipped we've actually got stock 80% of the time.
At one point we had less PS3s than Wiis O_O
Well now you know why. I was also quite curious as to why American gamers were always crying about low-stock, we have loads of PAL Wiis in the GAME and GameStop stores in Ireland.
You know, I thought it was weird that even though demand hasn't dipped we've actually got stock 80% of the time.
At one point we had less PS3s than Wiis O_O
Well now you know why. I was also quite curious as to why American gamers were always crying about low-stock, we have loads of PAL Wiis in the GAME and GameStop stores in Ireland.
PAL Wiis are about as useful as a life jacket with a 20 minute delay.
hahaha, maybe nintendo will start to prioritise UK wii releases? *totally not hopeful*
hahaha, maybe nintendo will start to prioritise UK wii releases? *totally not hopeful*
Lol at D4rk drinking to much and having flying pig thoughts.
So the mystery has been solved, having a weak dollar does make us great exporters though.
