In Australia the Wii is officially the fastest selling home console to smash through the 500,000 barrier according to research from GfK Australia who independently has confirmed that Nintendo smashed the record with sales measured over the 84 weeks since it launched in December 2006.
"We are really intending to increase shipments compared to last year," says Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's global president and CEO. "However, I can't give you a 100% commitment that you'll be able to find a Wii this holiday season in the USA. What I can commit myself to is that Nintendo is going to do its best to supply as many Wii hardware units as possible in order to meet demand."
The company is on schedule to produce 2.4 million Wii's this year and will allocate additional units to retailers as soon as they become available.
The Company claims that it has been caught off guard by the popularity of the Wii.
The shortages haven't stopped Nintendo from becoming the best-selling console in the world and the world. To date, 10.9 million Wii's have been sold in the USA alone, pushing the Xbox 360 from Microsoft into second place.
Nintendo's flagship handheld device--the Nintendo DS—also continues to sell well with the popular system set to get a boost later this year with the release of "Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars," which marks the first time a GTA game has appeared on the DS.
