Nintendo Wii Options Market (Look Out for Insider Trading!)

[Unspeaked]

I figure this fits in here better than it does the Gaming Console forum.

Apparently, there's a sort of "options trading" going on with Wii placeholder tickets. I've heard about this a few times in the past, but have never seen it presented in such a business-centric manner, complete with analogies to warrants, options, insider trading and such.

LINK

 

[DakotaGuy]

This doesn't surprise me. Nintendo actually halted all advertising on the Wii right now because it is not necessary and because of supply constraints. Imagine a product so popular that you don't even have to advertise it? It is amazing! I am happy for Nintendo though. They used a new approach to gaming and now people of all ages and skill levels are having a great time on the Wii. I never owned a gaming system in my life. I was one of the people that just didn't "get it" I guess, but with the Wii I do. I love my Wii and everyone that tries it (people who have never been into gaming) just love it.

 

[0098386]

It's the iPod of gaming. In that there were other MP3 players before the iPod, but this one took a new approach and it became their market. Now Nintendo own the gaming market with the DS and Wii.

Going through town today I saw lots of 2nd hand shops (CEX and co.) selling Wii's at £320, almost double the retail price.

 

[iSaint]

But there are plenty of iPods available on the market. Why does Nintendo choose to control their supply this way? My son wants one for Christmas. He won't freak if he doesn't get one. We'll buy one in February or March.

 

[0098386]

I can imagine it's slightly quicker to produce an iPod. Nintendo opened up another factory or 2 (IIRC) this year to meet the demand for the Wii. It's not like they're just sitting back and pulling adverts.
If rumours are true they also held stock back during the summer slump for this very season.

 

[Unspeaked]

Yeah, you have to remember the iPod has had a snowball effect. It was popular at first, but a very new product that was Mac-only. If the original 5G had the popularity that the current lineup enjoys, Apple would have been in the same supply-demand boat as Nintendo.

The Wii, on the other hand, was highly coveted even before the first shipments arrived in retailers. They've been fighting an up-hill battle in terms of supplying retail channels with enough of the things...

 

[themadchemist]

How much is a call on the Wii for the lowest in-the-money strike price?