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[ramparter]

It's funny how multiple people have clearly explained the NAND shortage and how the market works in this situation, yet people still come in here with their "incompetence" claims and conspiracies.

The people who refuse to be informed are the ones calling other people incompetent, typical people.

fixed

This what most people who have done nothing of value do, criticize everyone, will always tell you how they would have done it better but have all kind of excuses for their own situation which usually isn't very good because of reasons outside their control.

 

[marmoka]

He's confusing it with the annual general meeting of shareholders.

2nd quarter results is end of July.

So it's not investors' meeting but it's shareholders' meeting.

I knew there had to be some kind of meeting soon but I thought it was in June instead of July.

Thanks for the clarifications.

 

[depths20XX]

Are WSJ and Reuters reports citing insiders not enough?

No need to be condescending. I asked a question.

 

[ramparter]

By the way I want to add that back in Wii days - 10 years ago but I remember like it was yesterday - Nintendo had ramped up production to 1.8m per month and people were still saying there were artificial shortages.

 

[Skittzo0413]

You can't completely absolve Nintendo of responsibility here by citing component shortages (NAND flash mainly) but it's ridiculous to call them incompetent or horrible at business. Every company misjudges demand for their products, even Sony did with the PS4 for a few months and still does when it comes to PSVR, especially in Japan.

Nintendo does this more often than other gaming companies because they are a much smaller company than either Sony or Microsoft and therefore can't afford to change supply chains at the drop of a hat like other companies can. They also tend to have more radical and unorthodox products which leads to highly volatile (and therefore much harder to predict) demand.

It's the joy con shortages that make me suspicious. I get that a lot of people want the red/blue, but it's hard to believe that they're sooo outrageously in demand that I haven't been able to find a single set anywhere in four months. Amazon has NEVER had them in stock this whole time, only private sellers with inflated prices. (Though until today it'd been about a month since the last time I checked.)

Amazon had the yellow ARMS joycons in stock for several hours last week. Possibly even close to a day?

So it's not investors' meeting but it's shareholders' meeting.

I knew there had to be some kind of meeting soon but I thought it was in June instead of July.

Thanks for the clarifications.

Hah investors and shareholders are the same thing, it's just the name of the meeting. The next quarterly results briefing happens in July, but the annual meeting of shareholders happens in late June.

 

[Shizuka]

explain

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

 

[staticneuron]

Whenever a Nintendo product is sold out people accuse them of create artificial shortages.

Normally people blame Nintendo for not increasing production. The only way that flies is if a company is playing it safe and does not wish to incur cost for a product they do not see the full demand for. In the case of the Switch this wouldn't make sense and we already know they are in a battle for resources with some other large companies.

 

[Skittzo0413]

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

NES Mini: Demand took them (and me, and many other people) by surprise, they were selling them for too cheap, and they used the same NAND flash memory which is causing the Switch shortages now. Continuing to make those would have meant they couldn't make as many Switches.

Amiibos: Port strike plus the sheer amount of different Amiibo made them a very difficult product to accurately forecast demand. Also difficult to set up so many supply lines for so many different models.

Limited editions: Literally in the name, "limited edition". Every limited edition for everything sells out quickly.

If you apply the slightest bit of logic to any of this you'll realize artificial scarcity makes no sense for any of these products. Why create artificial scarcity for a product you're discontinuing?

 

[Shifty1897]

Nintendo: Switch shortages are “definitely not intentional”

 

[Gotdatmoney]

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

People litetally complaining limited editions are limited?

Christ.

 

[phanphare]

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

did you just cite limited editions to back up your point? lol

"limited" editions? eh? ehhh?

 

[Padinn]

https://imgflip.com/i/1rdx7y

Edit...stupid smartphone.

 

[Celine]

water is wet.

 

[Toadthemushroom]

Didn't Nintendo ship Switches via air freight, at a substantial extra cost, to get them to customers faster when Mario Kart 8(?) launched?

I think that alone speaks volumes.

 

[Falchion]

They are definitely not intentional but they could have most certainly been avoided with a more aggressive production as well.

 

[Skittzo0413]

Didn't Nintendo ship Switches via air freight, at a substantial extra cost, to get them to customers faster when Mario Kart 8(?) launched?

I think that alone speaks volumes.

They did that to ship extra consoles for March, not for MK8 launch. It actually contributed to the huge drop-off between March and April, since they basically took some stock which would have been shipped in April and rushed it out for March.

Either way, artificial scarcity remains nonsense.

 

[Calm Mind]

Because Nintendo is the master of creating artificial demand for their products, it's no wonder there are still people believing Switch's shortage is intentional to this day.

You have no proof of this other than conjecture and Internet gaming forum gossip BS.

 

[Vanillalite]

The only thing I've wondered about is the colored Joy-Cons. Haven't quiet figured out what's going on there especially since there are grey everywhere.

 

[Papacheeks]

Sure they could've made more but nobody correctly predicted the demand. The PS4 was also sold out for several months after launch. Does that make Sony incompetent too? These are business realities, businesses can't accurately forecast future demand 100% of the time. Probably even 75% of the time, that's just not how markets work.

And I'm not sure what your sales comparison is trying to say. Do you know that the Switch is likely tracking a good deal ahead of the XB1 now (wiki says XB1 was 5m shipped after 5 months, Switch is >4.5 just under 4 months)? We don't know how many Switches were sold in 24 hours, I would imagine it was close to 1 million.

I would like to know where your getting 4.5 million switches sold?

 

[Skittzo0413]

I would like to know where your getting 4.5 million switches sold?

Estimation, since the only official figures we have are 2.74m as of April 1st. Based on NPD and MC numbers since then it should be close. I'll see if I can do some math in an edit. Also these are shipped numbers, though with a console sold out in most of the world that's basically the same as sold through.

EDIT:

NPD April: 280k

NPD May: ~175k

MC: 926k total at the end of May, -565k from March = 361k

280+175+361 = 816k.

Generally the US and Japan account for about 55% of worldwide sales, so quick math gets us 816/0.55 = 1484. So 1.5m from April to May, giving us 4.24m as of June 1.

Since we're close to the end of June I would imagine it's gone up by over 250k through this month. It's obviously all fudged since we don't have any official numbers or even estimations for most regions, but it should be in the ballpark. Unless my math is wrong (which is definitely possible).

 

[CaviarMeths]

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

That's not artificial scarcity. That's actual scarcity.

 

[Muffdraul]

Amazon had the yellow ARMS joycons in stock for several hours last week. Possibly even close to a day?

I want red/blue tho =(

 

[Kyzer]

Of course its intentional, you dont sell billions of wii u and then suddenly not predict that the switch would be just as big. Any smart company would manufacturer much much more than they think will sell, thats good business.

 

[Skittzo0413]

I want red/blue tho =(

Yeah I have no idea why some of the joycons are that hard to find. That WSJ article also mentioned the linear resonant actuators for the HD rumble were also in high demand. So maybe that's it?

 

[RichiRamjag]

Why would anyone think they're intentional? Nintendo wants to sell as many Switch consoles as they can get onto store shelves.

Exactly? Why would they?

Even still, it won't stop that silly statement from being said in the future.

 

[Swass]

Isn't this what they said about Amiibo also? And the Wii? Amazing that something that is "definitely not intentional" keeps happening to the same company.

 

[mebizzle]

Yeah I have no idea why some of the joycons are that hard to find. That WSJ article also mentioned the linear resonant actuators for the HD rumble were also in high demand. So maybe that's it?

Anecdotal but I've seen the grey ones everywhere, had to search pretty hard to find the one set of Yellows a store in my area got last week, and I live in a pretty big city.

 

[jmizzal]

My Target have been getting new shipments every week this month, if I didnt get one at launch I would have been easily been able to get one now.

 

[Symbiotx]

I'm surprised it's still hard to find one almost 4 months later. I don't remember this ever being an issue with any other console. Sure, some have been hard to get ahold of at launch, but I wonder when supply will start catching up with demand.

 

[oti]

Why would anyone think they're intentional? Nintendo wants to sell as many Switch consoles as they can get onto store shelves.

Because some people would rather believe in nonsense conspiracy theories than learn a tiny bit of Business 101.

 

[ggx2ac]

Isn't this what they said about Amiibo also? And the Wii? Amazing that something that is "definitely not intentional" keeps happening to the same company.

You mean the console that kept breaking sales records had intentional shortages?

 

[Boss Doggie]

They are definitely not intentional but they could have most certainly been avoided with a more aggressive production as well.

not with that Wii U

and even if they did, they are competing with bigger companies as with producers having shortages too

 

[Octavianus]

Isn't this what they said about Amiibo also? And the Wii? Amazing that something that is "definitely not intentional" keeps happening to the same company.

Yeah, never happens with other successful products. Definitely a Nintendo only thing. Amazing.

 

[GregLombardi]

Of course its intentional, you dont sell billions of wii u and then suddenly not predict that the switch would be just as big. Any smart company would manufacturer much much more than they think will sell, thats good business.

Wut wut wut wut

Wut?

 

[ggx2ac]

Of course its intentional, you dont sell billions of wii u and then suddenly not predict that the switch would be just as big. Any smart company would manufacturer much much more than they think will sell, thats good business.

Not sure if sarcasm, otherwise...

Tell that to THQ and the UDraw.

 

[RRockman]

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

But Shizuka, all of those things you mentioned have a quirk about them! And as far as the limited editions go, they DO do restocks of those as I've witnessed it first hand with FE : shadows of Valentia. I even posted in the OT in that game for it. It sold out within hours.

 

[Apathy]

Gerstmann had a good anecdote about this on one of the bombcasts during the Wii era when he went to a Nintendo event near the release where they were impossible to find

Essentially he was taking with some guy from Nintendo and the concept of the artificial scarcity came up and Jeff was like "this shortage is working in your favor" essentially. The Nintendo guy response was "why? Imagine how many more systems we could be selling if we could meet the demand"

 

[Zedark]

Wut wut wut wut

Wut?

That's some definite sarcasm if I ever saw some.

 

[Sadist]

I'm surprised it's still hard to find one almost 4 months later. I don't remember this ever being an issue with any other console. Sure, some have been hard to get ahold of at launch, but I wonder when supply will start catching up with demand.

Wii.

Wasn't enough stock from launch, until eight months later.

 

[Nightbird]

Gerstmann had a good anecdote about this on one of the bombcasts during the Wii era when he went to a Nintendo event near the release where they were impossible to find

Essentially he was taking with some guy from Nintendo and the concept of the artificial scarcity came up and Jeff was like "this shortage is working in your favor" essentially. The Nintendo guy response was "why? Imagine how many more systems we could be selling if we could meet the demand"

A thing so simple that I can't believe how many people are missing it.

Nintendo has literally nothing to gain from not being able to meet demands for almost 4 months now.

What does artificial scarcity bring you if you still can't take advantage from that?

 

[KHlover]

I'm surprised it's still hard to find one almost 4 months later. I don't remember this ever being an issue with any other console. Sure, some have been hard to get ahold of at launch, but I wonder when supply will start catching up with demand.

Already forgot the PS4 launch?

 

[Scrotum Phillips]

Bottom line: They aren't good at all at projecting or meeting demand. They were completely off with the Wii, Wii U, NES classic and now the Switch. They knew an Iphone would be coming out, so that excuse is somewhat hollow to me. These are things companies as large as Nintendo should plan for and make decisions well in advance of release. They went conservative and it's now looking like the wrong decision.

 

[ggx2ac]

A thing so simple that I can't believe how many people are missing it.

Nintendo has literally nothing to gain from not being able to meet demands for almost 4 months now.

What does artificial scarcity bring you if you still can't take advantage from that?

Well hey, I explained this very clearly to people back when the claims of artificial scarcity occured for NES Mini Classic but it seems that some people think there's some grand scheme that Nintendo is pulling the strings behind everything even though I point out to people how the 3DS and Wii U were overstocked at launch, or how the Animal Crossing Amiibo were overstocked not because Nintendo forced retailers to but because retailers thought there was demand for it on the same level as Smash Amiibo so they ended up miscalculating on their orders.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

Nintendo could have released a lean and affordable home console, but chose to once again do a goofy and substandard device that requires expensive, low perf and hard-to-source parts in exchange for flexibility that's irrelevant for a lot of users, just like the Wii U. The awful price was the first symptom, the shortage is another. They dug this hole all by themselves.

Is there any proof to this "Apple stealin' all the production" theory or is it just conjecture?

It seems to be more of a mistake of Nintendo. They've shown time and time again to be incompetent at production.

There's some real comedy gold in here. It's alright, someday in the future Nintendo will make baffling business decisions again and you can talk shit about them all day. The day will come. It's not today, you don't have to make up bullshit.

NES Mini, Amiibos, almost all limited editions for their games, etc.

-Limited editions are called limited for a reason.
-They already stated they never planned for the NES mini to be a continued product. They don't profit from scalpers being assholes.
-Amiibos aren't as easy to produce as you may think, nor is it easy to estimate the demand for each individual Amiibo. My place is flooded with Animal Crossing Amiibos to this day. Such artificial shortages.

 

[Wamb0wneD]

DP.

 

[Skittzo0413]

Wut wut wut wut

Wut?

Not sure if sarcasm, otherwise...

Tell that to THQ and the UDraw.

Almost certain that's sarcasm.

Bottom line: They aren't good at all at projecting or meeting demand. They were completely off with the Wii, Wii U, NES classic and now the Switch. They knew an Iphone would be coming out, so that excuse is somewhat hollow to me. These are things companies as large as Nintendo should plan for and make decisions well in advance of release. They went conservative and it's now looking like the wrong decision.

The fact that you listed the Wii U in there should tell you everything. Overproduction of the Wii U was one of the two reasons why Nintendo had their second yearly loss in decades.

The fact that all of these products are incredibly non-traditional products (barring the NES Classic, when plug n' play consoles have historically sold very, very poorly so the demand was basically a shock to everyone) is what makes it so hard to gauge demand for them. Before the Wii released did anyone know it would go on to sell 100 million units? Before the Wii U released did anyone know it would struggle to reach 13 million?

Every company has issues with gauging demand, just look at Sony with the (much more traditional product) PS4 and PSVR. This only happens more often to Nintendo because they are A) far more experimental with their products and B) they are a much smaller company than Sony and MS and therefore cannot fix supply lines as quickly.

 

[Jaguar Victory]

History repeating itself. Check out 6 minutes in. Eerily familiar.

https://youtu.be/yt4KG9ib8S4

 

[RRockman]

History repeating itself. Check out 6 minutes in. Eerily familiar.

https://youtu.be/yt4KG9ib8S4

Oh wow. Those kids on the bus talking about what to do when they get to a certian level warmed my cold dark heart. When I went to school You'd be called a nerd and made fun of for talking about video games.

 

[haimon]

Not that I think they were intentional, but if they were would anyone from Nintendo actually admit it?

 

[Zedark]

Not that I think they were intentional, but if they were would anyone from Nintendo actually admit it?

No, but in this scenario there are much more logical explanation than an artificial shortages conspiracy theory.