Wii Production Soars

A new report suggests that Nintendo's production of Wii consoles is going rather well and may exceed original expectations. According to the report 2 million Wii's were produced in Q3 2006 for the November 19 launch of Nintendo's console. What is surprising however, is that another 7-9 million Wii's are expected to be produced within 2006.

The total of consoles that may be produced in 2006 exceeds the original target of 4 million units set by Nintendo for 2006 and even exceeds the 6 million target set for the end of their fiscal year (31 March 2007). The numbers stated by the report suggest that Nintendo could have as many as 11 million units available by the end of 2006, a sharp contrast to Sony's PS3 production woes.

The suggestion that Nintendo should have launched their console earlier, since they have enough units, seems irrelevant as the Wii faces the same problem as the PS3; it is introducing new and untested technology. The 3D motion sensing of the remote may not be as big a challenge as the introduction of the Cell processor and the Blu-Ray drive but developers seem to have been having a hard time utilising the Wii's unique abilities.

So before you decide to buy the, apparently widely available Wii, make sure you give the Wiimote a test drive.