Home Gaming For Nintendo, the Switch has “exceeded all expectations”

For Nintendo, the Switch has “exceeded all expectations”

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Before its release, many consumers (and game publishers!) looked at Nintendo’s Switch with a cautious, sideways glance. That’s fair, given how the company’s previous console, the Wii U, could rightly be called a monumental failure.

The system has since proven itself to be pretty damned popular, and increasingly difficult to find in retail stores in the US and Japan. It’s safe to say that in most of the world, demand has far exceeded supply. Nintendo UK’s explained why.

“For Nintendo Switch, our initial plan for the fiscal year ended March 2017 was to ship two million units by the end of March, but we increased production which resulted in shipping 2.74 million units globally,” Nintendo said in a statement to MCV UK. “For products like Nintendo Switch, it takes time to procure parts and run production, so we perform demand estimates far in advance of launch. Actual demand following the launch of these products surpassed our estimates globally.”

UK retailer GAME has blamed Nintendo and its stock shortage for its own sales slump – saying that they’d make a lot more money if they had systems to actually sell. Says Game: “the level of supply to the UK market had been lower than expected,” which “combined with the continued softness in our core Xbox and PlayStation markets, have impacted sales.”

Unfortunately for Nintendo-loving gamers who’ve yet to get their hands on a Switch, the company is busy competing with Apple for components to make the thing, making it a little scarcer than it should be. Still, Nintendo is ramping up production so that it can hit its target of ten million systems sold by the end of its financial year.

“To take advantage of this favorable momentum, we will continue to bolster our manufacturing facilities and strive to increase production in preparation for the Christmas period, which has been factored into our forecast of shipping 10 million units globally by the end of this fiscal year.”

With Super Mario Odyssey out before holidays and the promise of an impending main entry Pokémon Game and Metroid Prime 4, I think that number is easily within reach. If they can make enough of the things, that is.

Last Updated: July 3, 2017

6 Comments

  1. Weanerdog

    July 3, 2017 at 09:31

    Is anyone in SA actually stocking games (had a look on the weekend and only saw Mario cart and SF at one store) or can you get the games online and if so can you use an SD card as storage?

    Reply

    • Ottokie

      July 3, 2017 at 10:09

      I mostly download straight from the store on the Switch, and for the games I want physical cartridges for I mainly just check Raru and Takealot and choose whomever is cheaper. But I have found Loot to beat prices sometimes like in Mario Kart 8’s case.

      And I start off every morning by checking Cheapgamer.co.za for any headsup on good deals.

      Reply

      • Weanerdog

        July 3, 2017 at 10:17

        I was just amazed that it didn’t seem like any main stream shop is supporting the switch locally, seeing as it seems to be doing pretty well overseas.

        Reply

        • Ottokie

          July 3, 2017 at 10:18

          It seems to be only BTGames. At around R50 – R100 more expensive than online stores.

          Reply

  2. Original Heretic

    July 3, 2017 at 10:01

    Competing with Apple for components? That’s terrible news for them.

    Reply

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