In an interview with Next Gen, Nintendo’s George Harrison debunked a recent rumor that the company has been purposely withholding Wii shipments to create a falsified product shortage. According to the executive, the shortage was caused by an unusual spike in demand after the holiday season, as well as competition among three major territories over remaining stock.
"The [Japanese] and European markets are doing extremely well with the Wii. People in Japan at NCL (Nintendo Co. Ltd.) are making the best decisions that they can about which products get shipped to which market and when." Harrison goes on to confront the accusations from GameStop directly, saying, "GameStop’s an important customer. Every retailer would want to have more [Wiis]. I think [his comments] may have been GameStop’s way of trying to request more."
