Nintendo has confirmed that initial shipments of the Wii U to the UK will be constricted when the console launches on November 30th.
Speaking to CVG, a company representative announced the news in a statement, which reads in part:
“Wii U stock levels will be tight on day one. However we will be providing retailers with regular stock deliveries in the run up to Christmas in order to meet demand as quickly as possible.”
Multiple UK retailers also confirmed that they are expecting the Wii U to be in short supply on launch day, however, their estimates of available day one stock varied. Some retail sources listed in the report stated that they are expecting as little as 25,000 units to be shipped to the UK, while others placed the estimate between 75,000 and 100,000 units. However, the more optimistic retailers were not sure if the “allocation will arrive on day one or be distributed across a number of weeks”.
The new report seems to back up rumors from last August that suggested Nintendo was having trouble manufacturing the Wii U GamePad, and was concerned that they may have to delay the European launch into December.
Nintendo has publicly stated that the are expecting to ship 5.5 million Wii U systems worldwide before the end of their current fiscal year on March 31, 2013. If these low estimated shipment numbers in the UK hold true, The Big N will have their work cut out for them to boost production during the first quarter next year.
