Company news: Nintendo boosts Wii production

Nintendo’s president acknowledged Friday that the shortage of the hit Wii game machine was “abnormal,” and promised production was being boosted to increase deliveries by next month.

“We must do our best to fix this abnormal lack of stock,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata told reporters. “We have not been able to properly foresee demand.”

The comments came a day after the Japanese manufacturer of the Wii — which comes with a wand that can be used as a sword, tennis racket or fishing rod depending on the game — reported that sales nearly doubled for the fiscal year, lifted by robust sales of the Wii and the DS portable, a handheld video game.

Kyoto-based Nintendo Co.’s net profit jumped 77 percent to 174.29 billion yen ($1.47 billion) in the year through March, up dramatically from 98.38 billion yen a year earlier. Sales soared 90 percent to 966.53 billion yen ($8.13 billion).

The Wii has pummeled its rivals in a head-to-head battle in next-generation video game consoles involving Sony Corp.’s PlayStation 3, which has been plagued with production problems, and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox 360.

Iwata refused to disclose the monthly production capacity for the Wii, and said it was too early to say by how much the production was being raised.

But he said efforts were under way to increase production, and more machines will get delivered to stores around the world.

“We will do our best to offer the machine for those who are waiting,” he said at a Tokyo hall.

“A restructuring plan that includes slashing 10,000 jobs at ailing European plane maker Airbus lacks transparency, unions complained Friday.

Under the “Power-8” restructuring plan, Airbus is to slash 5,000 jobs with external contractors and 5,000 jobs within its own work force.

Following a meeting with Airbus officials, union representatives from France, Germany, Spain and Britain said 2,305 jobs would be cut at various sites in Toulouse, the southern French city where the company is based. They also said 964 jobs at the company headquarters would be cut — not 1,100, as was previously stated.

Union representatives complained that the details of the Power-8 plan were still murky.