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Reggie on Switch stock: We dramatically overdelivered.And yet, demand outpaces supply
- Thread starter AcademicSaucer
- Start date
It reminds me of the Wii a bit, just from anecdotal experience. That went through the initial few months being very difficult to get, then several months of hit and miss availability as shipments started to catch up leading into the holiday season where it was completely sold out again. Definitely seems like post Splatoon restocks have been happening much more regularly. Like weekly vs what seemed like monthly.
I am curious to see what Nintendo has to say at their next shareholder presentation on that front. Are they actually shipping more than originally expected now, and are they increasing the FY forecast, or is the availability we are seeing right now still part of that initial 10m forecast they had.
AdropOFvenom
Neo Member
It still seems pretty spotty, but actually somewhat available now. Like Gamestop online has a restock of all their bundles (and not-really-ripoff bundles in that it's only 1 game packaged in which you can choose) , pre-orders of both the official Mario Odyssey Switch bundle and stock Neon base model in stock. And they've been in stock for a few days now, I believe. But most other online retailers are presently sold out.
If someone wanted to buy a Switch right now, they might have to pick a retailer they wouldn't use otherwise, but it's very doable right now. (At least in US)
Of course, they don't have a ton of time to build up inventory before the Mario Odyssey/Holiday rush begins. So I could very well see it becoming scarce again in Late October all the way through the Holidays.
Liabe Brave
Member
I didn't say otherwise. But over a third of everyone thought it would do between Gamecube and Wii, which is right. This was not a rare estimate, but a common expectation.
And it's tracking behind the GBA. (Its first four weeks in the US were higher than GBA's first three, though.)
StereoVsn
Member
Yeah, it does seem that Nintendo has gotten a better handle on availability or demand slackened a bit befor the Holisay rush or a bit of both.
Also I agree it does remind one of the situation with the Wii a bit. We shall see what happens on a few weeks. FYI, if one has BestBuy GCU, regular Switch for $300 is a better deal then Mario bundle since you can get Physical Mario game for $48 and with a $10 certificate on top of that.
Gotdatmoney
Member
Between Gamecube and Wii is like the widest gap of prediction anyone could ever make
You know how many Nintendo, Sony and MS systems have not sold between the Cube and the Wii? As of right now 3. The WiiU, the Virtual Boy, the Vita.
Forgive me if I dont take between rhe Cube and the Wii as selling the sum of the WiiU and 3DS.
Link to GBA info? I didn't know there was good tracking for older hardware like that.
Gaiaknight
Member
damn what happened in this thread it almost as bad as when Nintendo claimed the record for most systems sold in a single month back in the wii ds days
Marty Chinn
Member
Could be a number of factors. Sony's dominance, it being a new concept, the failure of the Wii U, the decline in the 3DS, the rise in phone usage, the number of people using tablets, etc. There's all sorts of factors that could point to it's better to play it safe than flood the market.
WiiU, I'd wager.
.
I admit I almost jumped the gun too until I actually read the OP.
In that sense yes, they did.
Liabe Brave
Member
Absolutely, but the poll doesn't have any finer division. Which proves my point that it's not evidence no one predicted Switch success. (Even if it's only poor evidence that they did.)
Nintendo provide full info for all their platforms (except Virtual Boy) at their Investor Relations site.. (Scroll to the bottom for historical data, or go out to the IR library section to find further detail on individual years.)
The GBA sold 9.58m through September 2001, its first six months (plus one week in Japan). We won't have Switch numbers through September for a little while yet. But given the Switch results announced so far, it's certain that the number will be lower than GBA. This is despite Switch including an extra 3 weeks in Japan, an extra 5 weeks in the US, and an extra 7 weeks elsewhere.
archreaper93
Member
The analysts they talked to predicted 2 million. They went with 2.8 million.
2.8 million > 2 million, so yes, they overdelivered in comparison to the 2 million estimate.
So, essentially, they might have just unearthed a new audience?
Marty Chinn
Member
No, this would be a bad conclusion to come to. It's simply more that the consumer acceptance and appeal of the system was much higher than anticipated not that they found a new audience.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I didn't mean literally no one. I meant there was not a large portion of this forun predicting a run away success. Some people got it right (I was not one of them). Price was fucking insane and showing 1-2 Switch and Arms first was barf.
Switch is definitely below GBA but it also was majorly supply constrained in its biggest markets. GBA peaked in like year 1 in Japan, Switch wont do that. GBA could have crossed 100m if Nintendo didnt kill it off early
JershJopstin
Banned
Your point stands, but it's 5. You're forgetting that the DS and PS2 outsold the Wii.
"Bad estimate". Estimates are either correct or not. This estimate was clearly incorrect. But guess what, everyone's estimate was wrong when it came to Switch sales. Nintendo deciding to order more components and produce more units than 2 million would've been crazy.
The word "overdelivered" literally means what he says. Reggie is a master in PR and I laugh every time he makes a statement, but this time it's objectively true.
Besides, seeing how Nintendo air shipped units while eating the costs goes to show they were willing to implement some very hurtful short-term solutions for the problem at hand. I'm sure the situation will continue to get better (except for the holiday rush of course). I'm sure they did improve their production but there's always a delay there.
Huh I didn't realize they had IR info going back that far. Is the GBA the fastest selling gaming device of all time? I mean 9.6m through that time period would put it ahead of anything I can think of launch aligned. That's even faster than the Wii, although that also had supply issues.
Gotdatmoney
Member
I feel dumb because I was thinking of these 2 systems but just blanked writing them down.
Polygonal_Sprite
Gold Member
The stock situation is much better in the UK now. It's available at most big outlets. Sales should explode in the run up to Xmas with Fire Emblem, Mario and Xenoblade adding to Zelda, MK8D, Splatoon 2, ARMS, Mario x Rabbids and Pokken in terms of exclusives. Exclusive wise, it really is the best year one line up of any console release ever imo.
Can't wait for all the "my Switch is collecting dust" after people finished Odyssey...
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
+1. As much as I thought the launch line up was terrible, Nintendo has done a surprisingly good job of providing a strong release nearly every month since launch, and the fact that those have been supplemented by a lot of quite notable Indie releases is the icing on the cake. For me, it's the best launch year I've experienced on a game system in a long, long time. There's still more to come too which is wild.
My only question now is, what have they got in store for 2018? Mario, Zelda, Splatoon and Xenoblade in one year is kind of crazy.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Wouldn't that be quite early for Fire Emblem? If it was less than a year away I would have thought they'd have shown it by now.
Pikmin 4 is also MIA. Given what Miyamoto has said, surely it's close to completion, or are they just sitting on the finished game waiting to release.
Svejk
Member
lol. It was directed to Reggie's quote being overdelivered. Thought that was obvious.
GBA was a 99$ device though... extremely big difference, I think.
Don't know about GBA availabilty though.
Walmart currently has the Switch Splatoon bundle in stock. Haven't seen a major online retailer have stock in a while.
I personally think these bundles are too high at $380, just like the Odyssey bundle coming out next month. When you can get the game for $50 on Amazon or Best Buy. But, anyway, still, it's out there for people.
Went to my local Walmart today just to check supply and there was 4 Switch and 2 Splatoon bundles. So lots of stock.
Oh and Gamestop has a Splatoon bundle up online as well for $360.
I personally think these bundles are too high at $380, just like the Odyssey bundle coming out next month. When you can get the game for $50 on Amazon or Best Buy. But, anyway, still, it's out there for people.
Went to my local Walmart today just to check supply and there was 4 Switch and 2 Splatoon bundles. So lots of stock.
Oh and Gamestop has a Splatoon bundle up online as well for $360.
Liabe Brave
Member
Actually, it's 6. You both forgot PS1, which also outsold Wii.
Yes, of course there are reasons why Switch is selling more slowly than GBA. I never said there's no explanation why it's tracking lower.