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Why are there no Nintendo Switches in stock?

M

Montresor

Member
So I'm trying to get a Switch for my brother's birthday, and I can't find this thing anywhere.

I've never in the past 4 years ever, ever, ever encountered a situation where if I walked into a store I didn't see a PS4 or Xbox One in stock.

If someone wanted a PS4 or Xbox One, they could walk into any store and just get one. I get Xbox One isn't selling as well as PS4, but even a console like PS4, which is a monster in terms of sales, winning almost every NPD - that thing is always in stock.

Why is this different with the Switch? What is Nintendo doing with the product availability here?

Sorry guys, just bitter, because my brother would love this for his birthday and I can't find it anywhere. :(
 
I

iMax

Member
I believe it's due to a global NAND storage shortage supply, most of which is taken up by contracts with mobile phone manufacturers.
 
T

TheGamingBox

Banned
the ps4 was hard to find for a couple months at launch as well


also the ps4 wasnt facing flash shortages like the switch is having
 
I

Interface23

Member
It uses the same components as an iPhone and Apple is currently using most of those components so Nintendo is slowly getting Switches out there
 
T

Thatanas

Member
There is a magnifying glass at the top of your screen, it enables you to search the forums.

Sorry for the snarky comment, but we really don't need this daily topic do we?
 
N

Nostremitus

Member
Montresor said:
So I'm trying to get a Switch for my brother's birthday, and I can't find this thing anywhere.

I've never in the past 4 years ever, ever, ever encountered a situation where if I walked into a store I didn't see a PS4 or Xbox One in stock.

If someone wanted a PS4 or Xbox One, they could walk into any store and just get one. I get Xbox One isn't selling as well as PS4, but even a console like PS4, which is a monster in terms of sales, winning almost every NPD - that thing is always in stock.

Why is this different with the Switch? What is Nintendo doing with the product availability here?

Sorry guys, just bitter, because my brother would love this for his birthday and I can't find it anywhere. :(
Click to expand...
Where are you?
 
R

RiverShell

Member
From what I've heard there's been a shortage issue with the components. I remember someone commenting that it's even caused PC parts to increase in price.
 
P

Persona7

Banned
They have been in and out of stock at numerous retailers over the past few days. My local Target received over 40 units for the splatoon 2 launch. According to online reports Nintendo had mass restocks the past few days.
 
M

Montresor

Member
kahi said:
Saw 5 at my local Best Buy when picking up splatoon yesterday
Click to expand...

I'm in Toronto (in Canada) - every store I've called says they're out of stock. EB Games, Best Buy, Walmart, Shopper's Drug Mart, etc...

The only way I can see to get one is to buy it from a private seller on Amazon or Kijiji which to me is unacceptable. I'm not going to pay more than MSRP for this thing.
 
M

Mysterious

Banned
Montresor said:
I'm in Toronto (in Canada) - every store I've called says they're out of stock. EB Games, Best Buy, Walmart, Shopper's Drug Mart, etc...

The only way I can see to get one is to buy it from a private seller on Amazon or Kijiji which to me is unacceptable. I'm not going to pay more than MSRP for this thing.
Click to expand...

Dude, it was in stock for hours with Amazon.ca and BestBuy.ca. Many BestBuy stores had them in stock yesterday too. It's currently in stock at Sherway Gardens.
 
E

eFKac

Member
Manufacturing problems and Nintendo's stock location strategy.

At my store we currently have around 60 Switches (40 or so are going for trade with some British stores iirc) and we did not have problems stocking up since shortly after launch. That's Poland though and the demand is nowhere near.
 
1

13ruce

Banned
Same as Wii back then huge demand and not enough supplies produced to provide. Also this time they are competing with apple etc for parts so that also is a big problem/cause.

And ofcourse the Wii U situation made them play it save.
 
M

Montresor

Member
Mysterious said:
You can get one at Sherway Gardens right now.

Are you looking to buy Splatoon 2?
Click to expand...

Not looking to buy any games.

Sherway Gardens is doable. I live along the 427 highway, I could zip south along to Sherway Gardens in no time.

Which store at Sherway Gardens?
 
OmegaDL50

OmegaDL50

Member
I believe the biggest contributor to the problem is Nintendo is directly competing with Apple from the same supplier of NAND chips (the internal storage for the console).

Apple is buying tons of the chips to be used in the iPhone which ultimately leaving to a constrained supply so Nintendo trying to keep up with the demand is having this issue.

There have been a sporadic batches released with more frequency. I managed to get one from Amazon a week and half ago for example, and there was another batch a week before that, which gave hope that shipments are actually increasing.

If you are a prime member, I'd say put in a email notification to let you know when Amazon gets another batch in stock so you can buy without resorting to Scalper prices.

I know you just want to just reliably walk into a brick and mortar place, but with a email notification you'd at least get the chance to be alerted when stock becomes available and can buy in response. Sorry if this doesn't help you with the in-store situation, Montresor.
 
M

Mysterious

Banned
Montresor said:
Not looking to buy any games.

Sherway Gardens is doable. I live along the 427 highway, I could zip south along to Sherway Gardens in no time.

Which store at Sherway Gardens?
Click to expand...

BestBuy. It says it's in stock on their stock locator, but I'd call and confirm before going.
 
A

A Grizzly Bear

Member
Montresor said:
In stock for hours? That seems like not enough time for someone to actually buy something (under normal circumstances). ;p
Click to expand...
You're on GAF. You should have known what the stock situation was like and set up alerts from now in stock. Also, the Canada game deals discord and thread would have told you pretty quickly it was in stock.
 
S

Skittzo0413

Member
There's an enormous amount of demand (best selling Nintendo console at launch in US ever, 2nd best overall after PS4), there's a shortage of NAND Flash storage and smartphone companies like Apple get priority on those components (at least from Toshiba, Samsung also manufactures NAND Flash), and the PS4 was completely sold out for a few months worldwide, I don't know if it was 4+ months but it was more than 2.

Asd202 said:
Yeah but stock for PS4 in the first four months was much higher than Switch. Switch stock is bad really bad.
Click to expand...

I don't know how true that is. PS4 sold 6 million after 4 months, right? With the benefit of a holiday season. Switch should be a little less than 1 million under that (I'd guess it's at 5.1-5.2m right now).
 
F

FaintColt388301

Member
You've never been to a store where a PS4 wasn't in stock? They were scare for months after release. People were lining up Everytime stock came in. Switch is the same but Nintendo.
 
Z

zeemumu

Member
kahi said:
Saw 5 at my local Best Buy when picking up splatoon yesterday
Click to expand...

Ah yes.
Saw_V_New_Poster.jpg

That's the one withe the shotgun merry go round, right? Because Jigsaw hates shitting insurance companies. Ending was a bit of a copout because they knew we were waiting for SOMEONE to get killed by that reverse bear trap for the entirety of the series. It's one of the few traps that we never see go off. Wait, no. That's 6.
 
styl3s

styl3s

Member
Out of curiosity are you going into the stores and looking or going by website stock or calling? Because both those things aren't 100% reliable of what your local stores have in stock. BB/Target site and stock sites claim neither near me have any but when i went to get Splatoon 2 and hunt those new Zelda Amiibos the 3 targets and 2 BB's near me all had 10+ each. I know it's a location, location, location thing but everyone i talked to has said their stores had them when Splatoon dropped.

Seems like stores often restock as well keep an eye out, ask when they get shipped and keep your eye on stock alert websites because i have seen them pop up online a few times a week since it released. You can get a hold of one if you put the work in.
 
G

GiantBreadbug

Member
I mean this probably sounds harsh but like

Have you been under a rock? Between high demand, conservative forecast-driven production, and the NAND completion, its been covered pretty extensively on GAF.
 
A

Asd202

Member
Skittzo0413 said:
I don't know how true that is. PS4 sold 6 million after 4 months, right? With the benefit of a holiday season. Switch should be a little less than 1 million under that (I'd guess it's at 5.1-5.2m right now).
Click to expand...

What does benefit of holidays has to do with stock? Also looking at US and Japanese sales there is now way they shipped 5 million Switches yet. PS4 as of March 2014 was at 7.5 million Switch right now seems to be around 4 million at best.
 
G

ginger ninja

Banned
Hey OP. I managed to snag one from Amazon yesterday for MSRP when it was in stock for a few hours. But later I found out I can get it way cheaper from the military exchange website. We are talking $250 shipped. So I gonna order one from there and may be you can buy the amazon one off of me.

Also gaf, as a person who has never owned a Nintendo console before, does $250 for swtich sounds like a good idea ?
 
P

PowerThroughLov

Member
Its not easy to secure manufacturing times, resources and components.

Even if Nintendo started putting 100% effort into this in Feb its not likely we really see the increase until ~6 months down the line.
 
M

Montresor

Member
Mysterious said:
BestBuy. It says it's in stock on their stock locator, but I'd call and confirm before going.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the help brother - I called that specific Best Buy and no dice.

styl3s said:
Out of curiosity are you going into the stores and looking or going by website stock or calling? Because both those things aren't 100% reliable of what your local stores have in stock. BB/Target site and stock sites claim neither near me have any but when i went to get Splatoon 2 and hunt those new Zelda Amiibos the 3 targets and 2 BB's near me all had 10+ each. I know it's a location, location, location thing but everyone i talked to has said their stores had them when Splatoon dropped.

Seems like stores often restock as well keep an eye out, ask when they get shipped and keep your eye on stock alert websites because i have seen them pop up online a few times a week since it released. You can get a hold of one if you put the work in.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the heads up / tips. I haven't been going to stores - only calling them so far.
 
S

sphinx

the piano man
QuantumSquid said:
If we call this 300 EUR (329 minus VAT), that translates to roughly 354 USD, plus the cost of shipping which I'm sure isn't cheap.

At that point you could just go on eBay and buy one that's already in the US for ~$380 and have it arrive 2 days later with fast n' free shipping.
Click to expand...

I tried going to the last check-out part of amazon.de and it says, complete price is 284 euro with shipping (i can't see anything about custom charges)

€ 284 eu makes $331 dls. so yeah not the best deal ever.
 
S

Social

Member
So odd, it's in stock everywhere in Belgium. I don't understand how some countries are still not getting a proper supply this far into its release.
 
Lucent

Lucent

Member
Guess it depends where you go and stuff. I work at Wal-Mart and yesterday we had at least 5 of each switch and only 2 were sold all day.
 
B

Birbo

Member
I have a good amount of Gamestop credit I want to put towards a system, but waiting until I'm not forced into a bundle.
 
M

Montresor

Member
A Grizzly Bear said:
You're on GAF. You should have known what the stock situation was like and set up alerts from now in stock. Also, the Canada game deals discord and thread would have told you pretty quickly it was in stock.
Click to expand...

I know there are posts like these saying and others saying have I been living under a rock, or why didn't I try the search function.

Alright I get it - the stock issue has been covered on GAF extensively.

I'm actually not really a Nintendo fan and have never looked into this because I have no interest in buying or playing a Switch for myself. Only wanting to get this as a gift for my brother.

You guys are right though - I mean it seems like common knowledge the reason why Switch is scarce.
 
Banjotanooki

Banjotanooki

Member
zeemumu said:
Ah yes.
Saw_V_New_Poster.jpg

That's the one withe the shotgun merry go round, right? Because Jigsaw hates shitting insurance companies. Ending was a bit of a copout because they knew we were waiting for SOMEONE to get killed by that reverse bear trap for the entirety of the series. It's one of the few traps that we never see go off. Wait, no. That's 6.
Click to expand...

Meh, it's all about Saw 6!
 
R

reKon

Banned
Montresor said:
So I'm trying to get a Switch for my brother's birthday, and I can't find this thing anywhere.

I've never in the past 4 years ever, ever, ever encountered a situation where if I walked into a store I didn't see a PS4 or Xbox One in stock.

If someone wanted a PS4 or Xbox One, they could walk into any store and just get one. I get Xbox One isn't selling as well as PS4, but even a console like PS4, which is a monster in terms of sales, winning almost every NPD - that thing is always in stock.

Why is this different with the Switch? What is Nintendo doing with the product availability here?

Sorry guys, just bitter, because my brother would love this for his birthday and I can't find it anywhere. :(
Click to expand...

I'll be shocked if you spend a lot of time of GAF and never learned how to find things that are low in demand. There are a ton of resources at your disposal.

I have an Android phone so I add a widget for the Talon app (twitter app) to my home screen. That way, when I follow Slickdeals, I can never miss a deal! Between that randomly browsing GAF, I've never missed the last or times the Switch sales have popped up.

Step your game up if you want this console.
 
M

Marty Chinn

Member
Asd202 said:
What does benefit of holidays has to do with stock? Also looking at US and Japanese sales there is now way they shipped 5 million Switches yet. PS4 as of March 2014 was at 7.5 million Switch right now seems to be around 4.5 million
Click to expand...

The timing makes a difference in how they were stock piling units. With a holiday release they were manufacturing for awhile to have a big release. Nintendo could have done the same thing or launched earlier. They launched earlier to build momentum into the holidays instead. The way they planned inventory was different.
 
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