According to the NPD Group's results for November, the Nintendo Wii sold 981,000 units for November, but analyst James Lin of MDB Capital Group observes that they "could easily sell double" that.

Lin also furthers that Nintendo could lose as much as US$ 1 billion this holiday season because of the shortage. That's a lot of Wiis that couldn't be sold to people who were willing to ring it up on the counter. (Lin's estimate does not include software sales.)

It’s no secret that Nintendo is failing to adequately stock retail channels with enough Wii units despite pumping out 1.8 million systems on a monthly basis, but as the New York Times reports, shortages mean Nintendo is set to lose more than just face.

While Nintendo's Wii has been the bestselling home console in the US every month this year, except during September when a Halo 3-driven Xbox 360 narrowly edged it out, the Kyoto-based company is failing to fully capitalize on the system’s popularity.

Nintendo sold 981,000 Wii units in the US during November according to the NPD Group, but according to James Lin, senior analyst at the MDB Capital Group in Santa Monica, Calif., “they could easily sell double what they’re selling.” Along with other industry analysts and retailers, Lin believes Nintendo could be set to lose out on more than $1billion this holiday, not including missed revenue opportunies from associated software sales that won't materialize.

Final Blade via next-gen.biz »