News

Nintendo Claims Switch Scarcity “Not Intentional”

Nintendo has a history of understocking its products. Shipments of the Wii, Amiibos, and NES Classic all failed, at one point or another, to satisfy demand. Impressively, Nintendo even managed to “sell out” of a digital game once. With its newest console, the Switch, being out of stock in many stores – both physical and online – Nintendo has again been accused of manufacturing scarcity. The company has hit back, though, claiming that it is manufacturing new units “as fast as we can.”

Nintendo – “We’re Not Shorting the Market”

Nintendo Senior Director of Corporate Communications Charlie Scibetta told Ars Technica:

“It’s definitely not intentional in terms of shorting the market. We’re making it as fast as we can. We want to get as many units out as we can to support all the software that’s coming out right now. Our job really is to get it out as quick as we can, especially for this holiday because we want to have units on shelves to support Super Mario Odyssey.”

Given its history, though, is Nintendo to be believed?

Nintendo’s History of Manufactured Scarcity

Nintendo loves failing to meet customer demand and hates money:

  • In 2007, stores struggled to stock enough Wii consoles, a year after launch. Gamestop COO Dan DeMatteo accused Nintendo of manipulating its financial year figures. He said: “I think they intentionally dried up supply.”
  • The digital version of EarthBound “Sold Out” on Club Nintendo in 2015. Remarkable.
  • Many Amiibo figures became so rare, even at release, that they sold for five-to-ten times their retail value on eBay.
  • Nintendo launched the NES Classic Edition in November 2016. By April this year, the company had ceased production of the retro console. During its short lifespan, the NES Classic was frequently out-of-stock. Its scarcity triggered a secondary market on eBay. The £60 console regularly sold for up to 200% its RRP.
  • March this year, the Nintendo Switch launched in “limited quantities,” leaving many fans frustrated. Why? Because Nintendo is Nintendo.

Ashley Allen

Disqus Comments Loading...

Recent Posts

Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 5090 Possible Price Revealed

According to a new report, the GeForce RTX 5090 GPU will be very expensive. It…

15 hours ago

AMD Krackan Processor with 6 Zen 5 and Zen 5c Cores for Budget AI Laptops Leaked

A new AMD processor in the form of an engineering model has been leaked in…

15 hours ago

SK Hynix Begins Production of First 321-Layer NAND Chips

SK Hynix has claimed to be the first company to mass-produce 321-layer NAND memory chips.…

15 hours ago

Trust Gaming GXT 609 Zoxa 2.0 PC Speakers

SOUNDS GREAT – Full stereo sound (12W peak power) gives your setup a booming audio…

20 hours ago

PowerA Wired Controller for Nintendo Switch

Special Edition Yoshi design Ergonomic controller shape with Nintendo Switch button layout Detachable 10ft (3m)…

20 hours ago

Logitech G Saitek PRO Flight Rudder Pedals

Fluid Motion: These flight rudder pedals are smooth and accurate that enable precise control over…

20 hours ago