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Nintendo Shortage Affects EB

WEST CHESTER, PA-Electronics Boutique had a good holiday season, but a gaming hardware shortage kept it from being better.

By Dees Stribling | Updated on January 10, 2005

WEST CHESTER, PA-After its introduction in November, the global demand for the new Nintendo DS gaming system shot through the roof, and even now the fallout is affecting retailers. Electronics Boutique, which currently operates 1,981 stores worldwide specializing in video games and related products, noted the effects of the shortage in its most recent sales numbers, which covered the nine-week holiday period ended Jan. 1, 2005. Total sales for the retailer increased 22.3% to $666.0 million from $544.4 million in the same period last year, and comparable store sales rose 3.6% over the 2003 holiday period.

“Our 2004 holiday selling season benefited from strong software sales, led by Microsoft’s Halo 2 and Take Two’s Grand Theft Auto San Andreas, and the successful launch of the Nintendo DS platform,” says Jeffrey Griffiths, president and CEO of EB. “However, as the quarter progressed, the industry-wide hardware shortage became more significant than we initially anticipated.”

In fact, according to published reports in November, preorders for the new Nintendo DS system, which is distinctive in the gaming world for its dual screen (hence DS), totaled about 2 million units. Nintendo had initially planned for initial production of about half that number, and demand was so strong for the new device that the game maker was obliged to temporarily stop taking orders for it over the Internet the same day that ordering started, Nov. 3.

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