IDC analyst Billy Pidgeon believes Nintendo will continue to have a difficult time meeting meeting demand for the Wii, meaning the console could remain short in supply at retail channel well into 2009. Pidgeon's comments are particularly troubling when you recall that Nintendo's Perrin Kaplan suggested pretty much the same thing not too long ago.

According to Pidgeon, this lack of stock could fuel consumer disappointment, and ultimately harm the demand for the console. However, Pidgeon also feels that the PS3 and Xbox 360 will have some challenges of their own:

"I believe the Wii will continue strong growth although supply continues to be a problem," Pidgeon said. "I’d like to see Wii hardware shipping in larger quantities or mass market consumers may cool on it. Having said that, I don't believe supply will meet demand for the Wii until 2009. Xbox 360 and PS3 need system-selling games ASAP. Halo 3 will help, as will Lair and Heavenly Sword, but that leaves a hole in Q2 which will be filled by Wii, DS and PSP hardware and software. We’ll also see more PC and PS2 software picking up the slack."

Wii sales actually dropped 22% from February to March due to supply constraints. Xbox 360 hardware sales slipped 12.7% and Sony saw a small increase (2.3%) in PS3 sales from February to March. Despite all of the next-generation hype over the past year-and-a-half, it’s still the old PS2 console that’s propelling the game industry to new highs.

Wolfwood via videostoremag.com »