Taiwan may be hosting one of the premier manufacturing companies behind the many parts of the Nintendo Wii, but lately it hasn't been given love by Nintendo itself. But by the second quarter of 2008, that will no longer be the case. Nintendo's subsidiary in Taiwan, Nintendo Phuten, has delegated distribution rights to two lucky companies: Hakuya and Weblink. More details at the full story.

Despite already selling more than 10 million units globally, the demand for Nintendo's shiny white console Wii is still insatiable. We realize that some of you are still having a hard time scouting for the console itself or the motion-sensing controllers in retail stores because the supply just won't keep up with the demand.

Nintendo, time and again, has given word that it will ramp up its production for the console. However, it seems that it's not going to happen anytime within this year. According to a report from online site DigiTimes, Taiwan-based chip makers lament that the supply for different components like IC chips and PCBs are still tight as of now.

"With the delay of its plans, any easing of the Wii shortages in the worldwide market is unlikely to be seen in the second half of 2007", said one unnamed chip manufacturer. We do hope they sort out this problem sooner than later because the Nintendo's success is also generating money for other businesses worldwide.

 

According to certain market sources in Taiwan, Taiwanese business wireless solutions mogul Gemtek Technology is expected to be shipping more WLAN routers with the Nintendo Wii brand. There are estimates that the WLAN router volume shipping would reach 50,000 units by the second half of 2007.

Already having provided two million units of WLAN modules for the Nintendo Wii, Gemtek has been eyed to have stepped up their shipping to 100,000 units of WLAN modules recently. The company shipped 1.2 million units in contrast back in 2006. Gemtek apparently did not confirm nor deny the report, refusing to make any comment on the grounds of client confidentiality.

Business analysts in the market and in the region expect the Gemtek Technology to post total revenues of around NT$ 4.5 billion to NT$ 4.7 billion (US$ 136.26 million to US$ 142.316 million) by the second quarter of fiscal year 2007. Analysts point out that if all goes to plan, it should bring up the company's revenues up to NT$ 9 billion (US$ 272.52 million) by the first half of the year.

Thanks to DigiTimes for the heads up!

In a bid to block the recent upsurge of Wii modchips, Nintendo has changed the circuit layout of its next gen Wii videogame console. This according to DigiTimes.

Retail channels in Taiwan, however, warned that new modchips for the altered consoles may become available in less than a month. This is a logical conclusion as earlier attempts by pretty much every console maker to revise their consoles' circuitry have resulted in newer generation modchips built specifically for the revised consoles.

According to DigiTimes, some Wii modders in Taiwan think that Nintendo could use ball grid array IC packaging in order to extend the time spent developing new modchips. DigiTimes' source noted that the longer waiting time could "reduce the willingness of some users to modify the consoles."

It seems that the Taiwan market will not be seeing any Wiis before the Chinese New Year, so retailers are now increasing their orders for Nintendo's DS Lite handheld system in order to take advantage of upcoming holiday shopping demand. This according to DigiTimes.

Hakuyu, Nintendo's Taiwan sales agent, said that it "expects retailers' orders for NDS Lite consoles to top NT$ 100 million (US$ 3 million) for January, as they stock the game consoles ahead of the long Chinese New Year holiday, which comes in February this year." The company will import 20,000-30,000 units of NDS Lite from Japan this month, but Hakuyu says that the number will still be unable to meet strong demand.

Despite this, some retailers and online stores have already been offering privately imported Wiis at the end of last year. Even with these products' marked-up prices, market observers say that they have already sold out.