GameStop: Wii Shortages to Continue for Six Months, PS3 and Xbox 360 Price Cuts Expected

GameStop COO Dan DeMatteo anticipates shortages of the Nintendo Wii to continue for at least six months, MCV reports.

Speaking on an investor's conference call about inventory expectations in 2008, DeMatteo stated that he expects the retailer's supplies of the Nintendo Wii to fall short of demand for "the next two quarters at the least.

"Supplies have continually improved," DeMatteo added. "But we still don't know when supply will meet demand for the Nintendo Wii as they continue to sell out as soon as they hit the shelves."

Keeping up with outrageous demand for the Wii has proven difficult for retailers. Across the year of 2007, there were only three instances when the Wii and the Nintendo DS were not the month's top two best-selling pieces of hardware in North America.

GameStop CFO David Carlson added that the company also expects substantial price cuts for consoles in the coming year. "We've assumed a couple [of price cuts]," Carlson said. "The Xbox [360] and the PS3 have a $50 price cut sometime in the year. We have no knowledge or verification of those, but that's just the assumption we have used."