A Nintendo spokesperson has confirmed to GamesIndustry.biz that the company plans to increase Wii production as demand for the console continues to outstrip supply.
"For the first three months of this year we have been producing one million hardware units per month. We are increasing the manufacturing capacity and forecast to ship 14 million in this fiscal year to our distributors and retail customers globally," the spokesperson said.
"We have put solid production plans in place to ensure a steady flow of product through 2007. We are constantly replenishing Wii supplies however with such high demand, stock is still flying off shelves so consumers should continue to be in touch with their local retailers to confirm when new stock is arriving."
In other news, one of the video game industry's most celebrated franchises is officially hotter than ever. Within just five days of availability, more than 1 million copies of Pokémon® Diamond and Pokémon Pearl for the portable Nintendo DS have sold in the United States since Sunday's launch; a faster rate than any previous Pokémon games since the franchise's U.S. introduction, almost a decade ago. To date, more than 155 million copies of Pokémon games have sold worldwide.
