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Why are there no Nintendo Switches in stock?

I

Instro

Member
Rellik said:
They could make more by spending the cash it would take to set up new production lines. This is what competent companies like Apple do when there is a shortage. Nintendo are just being tight.

This is the same company who has a HOT item in the NES Classic and refused to make more. They threw money down the drain for fuck all.
Click to expand...

Apple sources nand from the same companies, they are faced with the same problem this year. They have more money and clout to get a larger share of the supply, but I'm not aware of them paying for additional factories to solve the problem.
 
M

MatrixMan.EXE

Member
RedZaraki said:
The problem is the potetial future sales. The quicker you spread these things, the quicker word of mouth grows and the MORE future sales you generate. Sure, lots of these delayed sales are coming eventually, but some people that buy things on a whim from hype are being lost.

Absolutely, the total lifetime sales of this device are being harmed right now from this shortage.
Click to expand...

Definitely. This is a huge problem. I feel as though a lot of people got caught up in the launch hype but that's died down heavily at this point. I imagine that if the issues aren't sorted soon, many would have lost interest by the time the manufacturing issues are sorted.

And to the couple of people above me, yes, they cannot keep up with demand but that's because they're barely producing any units to begin with. It's not as if their manufactiring pipeline is operating without handicaps, producing millions of units and still failing to meet demand, which is my point. Given the amount of units they're producing, I'd be worried if it wasn't selling out. Calm down Alberto.
 
DESTROYA

DESTROYA

Member
Yeah I feel your pain OP, with a full time job it took me months to track down a unit, luckily I got one from ToysRus when they were getting limited stock and passing out tickets.
I still have yet to see them in stock in person anywhere else in MA.
I guess it's just a supply and demand thing and unfortunately the supply chain really sucks.
 
K

Kickz

Member
I just checked Target, GameStop and BestBuy near me and no one has one..

I just wanna play Splatoon man =[

I should be able to get a console on release day Nintendo..
 
E

EGM1966

Member
Demand is outstripping supply.

Supply is constrained I believe by availability of certain parts and Nintendo's supply chain operations.

My youngest son had to wait for 5 weeks after his birthday to get his. He loves it but unless you're in certain regions patience is required to own one it seems.
 
V

VeeP

Member
In California, and they had 12 Switches at my Bestbuy yesterday. OP call around, shipments went everywhere yesterday. Call Walmart, Target, BB, Gamestop, etc.
 
Allforce

Allforce

Member
I've seen them at Target nearly every time I go (which is usually at least a few times a month). But I'm in the capital of Ohio, not NYC or LA or Toronto where you've got millions of people.

I even saw a used one a few weeks ago at the local game store, they wanted 330 for the system, Zelda, and a carrying case.
 
B

BlastProcessing

Member
Mihael Mello Keehl said:
Artificial intelligence. Nintendo isn't fooling anyone.. its been like this since the 80s
Click to expand...

AI_Poster.jpg
 
K

Kickz

Member
GreenMonkey said:
I see them instore all the time. Not a lot of them, but generally a few per spot (Best Buy, Meijer (local chain), Walmart, etc.
Click to expand...

Was talking to a Gamestop guy yesterday and while he checked availability in another store he found one but literally as was talking to that other store it sold out lol..
 
boyshine

boyshine

Member
sphinx said:
are those normal (300~330 dls) us prices?? or rip-off prices?

In Mexico there are switches available everywhere, they just happen to cost $10'000 mexican pesos, roughly $566 dls
Click to expand...

Norway has 25% VAT. As far as I understand US prices are without tax(?), if so:

3500nok retail = 2800 + tax = $348

So, the cheapest option (3288,-) is $327
 
S

Shiggy

Member
They underestimated initial demand and you cannot just increase production within a day. It takes weeks to ramp up production, and then it takes time to ship those units all over the world.

Also, it doesn't make sense to ramp up production too much to be stuck with costly excess stock later on. Ramping up production comes with initial investment.
 
boyshine

boyshine

Member
Chessr said:
Same in Denmark
Some stores still have launch console because so little demand in this PlayStation country
Click to expand...

I don't believe that. Few stores had more than 30 at launch, if you haven't sold through that + several shipments since, you are doing something insanely wrong. Denmark isn't THAT different from Norway, we are a PS-nation as well...
 
C

Chumly

Member
Nintendo only had contracts in place to meet their fiscal year goal which was low and conservative based off Wii U sales. Unfortunately for them they didn't have a plan in place to ramp up in sales and being conservative they won't compete with cell phone manufacturers.

Bottom line Nintendo fucked up bigtime and is getting bit in the ass.
 
F

fredrancour

Member
Nintendo is stuck competing with the entire smartphone industry and the tablet market for parts, and fared poorly. It left them without the ability to ramp up production when it turned out to be popular
 
D

dreamlongdead

Member
What the hell?

From what I've been seeing, this period is the first time that Switches have actually been available for many people. And you want to make a topic now, especially when there's a dedicated thread for it?

Sucks that you can't find it, but this is the time where you could actually have a chance if you look around. What do you want people to tell you?
 
M

messiaen

Member
boyshine said:
Norway has 25% VAT. As far as I understand US prices are without tax(?), if so:

3500nok retail = 2800 + tax = $348

So, the cheapest option (3288,-) is $327
Click to expand...
That's right. Sales tax here varies on a state and county level and/or city level.

For example, LA county sales tax total is 9.25%. California's base is 6% and LA county is 3.25%.

So a Switch here would be $327.74. But say in San Francisco where the tax is 8.5%, it would be $325.49.

OP, I still see over 30 something stores with stock around me. Maybe reach out to Target or Best Buy? Or wait till Mario and Rabbids comes out. I'm sure they'll have a healthy stock then too.
 
P

PunjabiPlaya

Member
InsaneTiger said:
I believe its not just mobile phones but servers as well.
Click to expand...
Not only that, but I've been looking build a PC the past few weeks and finding a good affordable graphics card at retail price has been tough. I've mostly been looking on Amazon, but I've been seeing a definite price hike on some of the more popular cards. Now if this is due to NAND shortage, I don't think so, but there's definitely a shortage of other parts too it seems like.
 
N

Nostremitus

Member
PunjabiPlaya said:
Not only that, but I've been looking build a PC the past few weeks and finding a good affordable graphics card at retail price has been tough. I've mostly been looking on Amazon, but I've been seeing a definite price hike on some of the more popular cards. Now if this is due to NAND shortage, I don't think so, but there's definitely a shortage of other parts too it seems like.
Click to expand...
That's due to bit miners buying up graphics cards.
 
P

prateeko

Member
iMax said:
I believe it's due to a global NAND storage shortage supply, most of which is taken up by contracts with mobile phone manufacturers.
Click to expand...

I wasn't aware of this issue. Makes a lot of sense. Glad I pre-ordered and had a launch console delivered!
 
V

Velocity:Design:Comfort

Banned
Chumly said:
Nintendo only had contracts in place to meet their fiscal year goal which was low and conservative based off Wii U sales. Unfortunately for them they didn't have a plan in place to ramp up in sales and being conservative they won't compete with cell phone manufacturers.

Bottom line Nintendo fucked up bigtime and is getting bit in the ass.
Click to expand...

Yeah cause everyone wanting their product means they are total failures, right?

Again, and this is literally every thread on the issue: People are projecting. The fact is that they are turning their dislike of what the Switch is, or their frustration not getting one or the NES Classic, into a spin or narrative where extreme demand is bad. That is absolutely some asinine opposite world stuff.
 
C

CaviarMeths

Member
Man several months later and the GAF armchair CEOs are still all like "Nintendo are dumb, they should go to the memory store and buy more memory." Whatever new narrative you have to go with after your "DOA" prediction failed hard, I guess.

Anyway, nowinstock.net is a great tool for getting a Switch. Trackers in Canada are limited to Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Source, but Amazon gets stock regularly. Set up either browser or text alerts and you should be able to snag one.
 
M

MoonFrog

Member
MatrixMan.EXE said:
Definitely. This is a huge problem. I feel as though a lot of people got caught up in the launch hype but that's died down heavily at this point. I imagine that if the issues aren't sorted soon, many would have lost interest by the time the manufacturing issues are sorted.

And to the couple of people above me, yes, they cannot keep up with demand but that's because they're barely producing any units to begin with. It's not as if their manufactiring pipeline is operating without handicaps, producing millions of units and still failing to meet demand, which is my point. Given the amount of units they're producing, I'd be worried if it wasn't selling out. Calm down Alberto.
Click to expand...

Larger install base does equal more (hopefully good) word of mouth and developer interest.

Yet, developers are undoubtedly aware that Switch is having stock issues. I don't think any harm is currently being done to Switch's future support by these launch woes. The thing is selling well, has a lot of hype, and seems to be an attractive product. No one who'd be considering Switch support and would land on the side of "yes" in a better stocked world is going to be swayed by these issues.

I also think Nintendo is doing very well at putting out compelling software to keep interest on the product. It is going to come into its first holiday with Mario, Zelda, and Xenoblade on the single-player side and Kart, ARMS, Splatoon, and Pokken on the multiplayer side, from Nintendo itself. This is a powerful array of software. I don't think "loss of interest" sales losses are going to be that great.

So I think you really need to wait for another bad shoe to drop to get that sort of narrative of the ground. Like NAND shortages don't end after Apple's launch and Nintendo can't get a good holiday stockpile in order.
 
K

kitchenmotors

Banned
I feel like your poor planning and research has led you to this problem. If you knew his birthday was coming up and the Switch has hard to find as it is, you should’ve been prepared. I mean, you’re on GAF, you can’t be oblivious to Switch news, right?
 
O

OrbitalBeard

Member
MatrixMan.EXE said:
Definitely. This is a huge problem. I feel as though a lot of people got caught up in the launch hype but that's died down heavily at this point. I imagine that if the issues aren't sorted soon, many would have lost interest by the time the manufacturing issues are sorted.

And to the couple of people above me, yes, they cannot keep up with demand but that's because they're barely producing any units to begin with. It's not as if their manufactiring pipeline is operating without handicaps, producing millions of units and still failing to meet demand, which is my point. Given the amount of units they're producing, I'd be worried if it wasn't selling out. Calm down Alberto.
Click to expand...

I'd wager this will only happen if Nintendo stops releasing hardware-moving software. Releases like Animal Crossing, Pokemon, Smash Bros., etc. will continue to drive interest ,regardless of production issues.
 
B

Bubba77

Member
I saw them everywhere yesterday along with splatoon. Walmart, gamestop and bestbuy had a lot. (I was tracking down cloud/bayonetta amiibos).
 
LordRaptor

LordRaptor

Member
Velocity:Design:Comfort said:
Yeah cause everyone wanting their product means they are total failures, right?

Again, and this is literally every thread on the issue: People are projecting. The fact is that they are turning their dislike of what the Switch is, or their frustration not getting one or the NES Classic, into a spin or narrative where extreme demand is bad. That is absolutely some asinine opposite world stuff.
Click to expand...

Its incredible how badly Nintendo fucked up after the WiiU.
They'd really got their "Product nobody wants" game down, how they managed to screw that all up by making something thats in demand as a followup is crazy
 
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