KEY POINTS:
New Zealand isn't experiencing the Xbox 360 supply problems that are plaguing Microsoft in the United States.
"We have seen very strong and consistent demand in the local market and, overall, we have managed to secure sufficient consoles so far," said Tom Hunt, Xbox product marketing manager for New Zealand.
He says the low-priced Arcade package is the only version of the console that Microsoft New Zealand is struggling to supply, but that will be rectified next month.
"The only exception is with our new Arcade console - which we could only initially offer in limited quantities. But Kiwi's won't miss out."
But the tech industry giant is seeing shortages of the console in America, after failing to anticipate strong post-holiday demand, an executive said today.
"We are really running short of product here in the United States," Jeff Bell, head of global marketing for Microsoft's games business, said in an interview. "You could say we misjudged demand."
The comments came a day before market research firm NPD is expected to release video game sales data for January and Bell said Microsoft was hoping to "manage expectations."
"We're literally out of stock in many stores. We think this will have an impact on our sales," Bell said. "It may cause the overall industry number to be down a little bit.
"Retailers have been really upset, they are on allocation. It is a lag I think we're seeing in January and that may continue into February, then as spring ramps up, we'll be able to meet that demand."
Microsoft sold nearly 1.3 million Xbox 360 consoles in the United States in December, when the entire video games industry gets a boost from holiday shopping.
The Xbox 360 competes with Nintendo's Wii console, as well as Sony's PlayStation 3.
- REUTERS / NZ HERALD STAFF
