Rumor: Is the Xbox 360 shortage deliberate?

Gamespot a running an article regarding the supposed Xbox 360 shortage, the conclusion they come to is that there will no doubt be a shortage of Microsoft's next generation console but whether it's deliberate or not can not be proven! MaxConsole would like to know what you think on this subject, are Microsoft playing a clever marketing game ? Will it work ? Or is demand just simply too high ? Let us know your thoughts in the forum thread link below!

Gamespot Xbox 360 Shortage: here

I do think they have rushed the xb360 for xmas thats why theres such low stocks but the bit they have done on purpose is limit stock to stores so all the consoles will be sold out and people will be begging for one so once it comes to jan/feb when new supply hits stores people will rush to buy one I think thats MS tactics will it work maybe we will have to see.

I wont be one of them people buying one first versions of consoles always have issues also i think its rip off and the hardware they are offering isnt that great.

I have connections with several suppliers/distributors.
Trust me when I say that this is a well known and well used marketing strategy.
Don't be fooled, this happens every christmas

It's bullshit. They just can't produce them fast enough to meet demand.

not bullshit, everyone does it. I worked @ funcoland when the n64 came out, they would get 1-2 systems at a time before christmas. The day after there was a shipment of like 30 systems, no joke. Its all about the hype and getting people to go nuts to get one. Looks great in the news and launch is deemed a success cause of the sell outs. nothing new here, pre order bundles may seem like a scam but most people buy 3-4 games at launch anyway so might as well secure a system. I know I bought like 6 games with the GC on launch day, so I ordered a bundle when it was offered since I would have bought the games in it anyway.

It's complete nonsense, and anyone with even a minute grain of common sense knows that.

You crazy store clerks with your conspiracy theorys really crack me up.

I think most of the problems with this one have come from launching the console almost simultaneously (give or take a couple of weeks) across the entire first world. Couple with that the fact that the release is at the one time of year when the latest boys toy to hit the street is always going to sell out anyway, regardless of supply numbers.

Like a MS spokeman said himself "nobody had ever attempted to do this before, and now we know why".

everyone who's ever taken marketing classes knows that artificial shortages can inflate demand.
A product that is scarse will be perceived as more valuable, hence demand will rise.
Its an old trick and one that sony successully pulled off at PS2's launch

I did marketing and yes I see what your saying Sony do it all time but this time MS arnt lying they have tried to rush it world wide release thats why there shortages if it was only USA then they may off tried to do that as marketing also it comes down to money if they produce the product more slow they may beable to find cheaper ways to produce it so they will make even more profit then before which will be a lot on xb360.

basically, an ideal scenario would be to use the "sold out" hype for a month or so, then flood the market a week or so before Christmas.