GameStop accuses Nintendo of holding back Wii stock

GameStop COO Dan DeMatteo has accused Nintendo of holding back Wii units from retail outlets in the US.

In a conference call following the release of fourth quarter sales, DeMatteo stated that he believes that because Nintendo had reached its targets for the 2006 fiscal year, it held back stock to boost performance in Q1 of 2007.

"This is just my opinion — I think they intentionally dried up supply because they made their numbers for the year. Their new year starts April 1 and I think we're going to see supply flowing," he said.

He revealed that the retailer is now receiving stock allocation for April, and does not expect such crippling shortages of the console in the future.

"Next week we get our first allocations of Wii and DS and we are quite pleased with those numbers. We are concerned about the dryness here in March, but it looks like April is going to be good," commented DeMatteo.

Speaking about the European launch of the PlayStation 3, GameStop COO R. Richard Fontaine described the event as, "a very good launch falling just short of a great one."

The company also revealed it intends to open a further 500 — 550 stores worldwide during 2007.