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Do you guys think there will be a Switch shortage?

We'll get the worst of both worlds: Nintendo severely underships the console but they don't even sell enough units to get launch consoles off store selves by the holidays.
 
In the first couple of months maybe. Then possibly at the holidays if they somehow manage to get a great game lineup.

But I would imagine most core gamers this holiday will also be looking at Scorpio's and PS4 Pro's...
 

jond76

Banned
I'm not even thinking about getting one until Mario. So by then I should know if A) they will be in stock, and B) if the system is a flop.

I honestly don't know if it'll sell out at launch. Probably, there are enough superfans to make it happen, I think.
 
CEWKlMN.jpg


Fuck her. I hope she got stuck with each of those consoles and had to sell them for a loss.
 

PSFan

Member
Fuck her. I hope she got stuck with each of those consoles and had to sell them for a loss.

They ended up returning them. I remember watching her auctions. Didn't even get one bid for one of those Wii Us, hahahA

Or she returned them and didn't lose anything.

Think about how much time and hassle it is to bring all those Wii Us back to a store. Not to mention how pathetic it looks wheeling them all in to return lol.
 
That picture of the Wii u in her mini van still makes me :/

Since Wii u was released in the holidays the store probably had extended return on everything so when it wasn't selling she easily returned it :(
Such a shame too, I wish items were all sales final if you buy more than 3 cause that's just ridiculous

I'll say this, if switch only resells for $350 you'll start to see mass returns since it'll be 30 days to return stuff with a receipt now
 

13ruce

Banned
First month, definitely, Nintendo said there would be only 2M Switch, for a worldwide launch!

Or she returned them and didn't lose anything.

Pretty dumb when twilight princess sold gangbusters for a Zelda title. They should have gone for 3 or 4 million Switch units for world wide.
 

PSFan

Member
That picture of the Wii u in her mini van still makes me :/

Since Wii u was released in the holidays the store probably had extended return on everything so when it wasn't selling she easily returned it :(
Such a shame too, I wish items were all sales final if you buy more than 3 cause that's just ridiculous

I'll say this, if switch only resells for $350 you'll start to see mass returns since it'll be 30 days to return stuff with a receipt now

Items don't even have to be all sales final. All retailers have to do is start charging a restocking fee on returned consoles and scalpers will never screw up a console launch again.
 

Angel_DvA

Member
France is one of the best market for Nintendo in Europe and it's not sold out anywhere, you can find every Switch version everywhere, it's worrying.

But it's n°1 in gaming part of the website ( with Zelda ) first non-Nintendo related stuff is at 11:

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sr_bs_1_videogames_1

here's the link if people want to get one:

https://www.amazon.fr/Console-Nintendo-Switch-paire-Joy-Con/dp/B01M6ZGICT/ref=zg_bs_videogames_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CMMSMQ4JTRYD117FSKJR
 
Yep please show us where we can buy more of these.

Not in stock now, but nowinstock history shows that walmart has been putting them up every hour or so since last night. So, if you're dying for one I'd keep checking walmart and/or nowinstock.

EDIT: They just went up again on walmart. Granted, it will probably be gone in a heartbeat.

EDIT 2: Yep, they were gone in an instant. But, I saw it instock for a quick second!
 

Pandy

Member
We know the official number is 2 million units for launch month.

I'm finding it hard to reconcile the claims that no one is going to buy the thing with the counter claim that Nintendo haven't manufactured enough of them. (I know it isn't all the same people, but I'm sure if I dug around I'd find a few.)

Could the people saying the console will be a complete failure please explain what sales figures they'd expect to see in launch month if there were an unlimited supply of Switches available?
 

Gaspard

Member
I think there will be an initial shortage for the first month but then there'll be plenty through the year into the holidays.
 

StereoVsn

Member
It will sell out in Japan and US at least during first 2-3 months due to Nintendo undershipping the console as usual. 2 mil WW has been mentioned for March and they will probably ramp up slowly. Then you will have shortages during Holidays because Mario is coming out and possibly Pokémon.

Now, next year after the Holidays this will sit on the shelves unless Nintendo drops the price.
 
We'll get the worst of both worlds: Nintendo severely underships the console but they don't even sell enough units to get launch consoles off store selves by the holidays.

Preorders are sold out after 2 days but they won't sell their initial 2 million WW after 9 months?

Seems legit.

TimHortons said:

I hope she held onto them. There's going to be a lot of thirsty Zelda fans in March who'll be paying premiums for them. They're discontinued and currently going for $300 on amazon.
 

Zafir

Member
Initially, probably.

It's a Nintendo product, they'll under-ship as they usually do. I'm not sure the shortage will last that long. I think it's too early to say.

I don't see it being another Wii in terms of being sold out for months on end, the price is too high, it's lacking in games somewhat and the gimmick isn't there for it to catch on among the casual crowd like the Wii did. If anything I think it's more likely to follow the 3DS' sales pattern. 3DS didn't sell well at the start, they dropped the price fairly quickly, but it had good legs.
 
Initially? Will sell out because Nintendo's artificially understocking it and because the Nintendo faithful will pick it up.

After the hardcore Nintendo fans (at least those that aren't burned and upgrade) already picked up their purchase?

Same as Wii U. You might see an uptick through Yokai Watch, MonHun and Pokemon if the respective player bases can get past the very high price of entry, paying for playing online, having a heavy Wii U gamepad sized handheld (that's even heavier than the Gamepad) with weak battery/long charging times and not having a $70/80 2Ds like entry model. Pokemon home console games themselves have always been miles behind the mainline handheld games when it comes to sales. That or massive price cuts and possibly ambassador style free games for early adopters, but I don't believe that's what the current Nintendo leadership will pursue, particularly not the current president.
 

schuelma

Wastes hours checking old Famitsu software data, but that's why we love him.
If the 2 million world wide in March is accurate, is that really that low for a March launch?
 

kromeo

Member
I 100% agree that the Switch has the ability and benefit of being a niche product that it could easily reach Wii numbers of sales throughout its life time, but that all relies on price & software and so far Nintendo have stumbled on the former.

It might be a moderate success but there's no chance of reaching Wii numbers, that market's gone and it's not coming back
 

netBuff

Member
As I described in another post, the Switch has been sitting atop Amazon's 'Best Sellers in Videogames' chart since pre-orders first went live, despite the fact that it has been listed as 'Currently unavailable' (out of stock) for the vast majority of that time.

Most of the other items on the 'Best Sellers' list have been available without interruption, but presumably the Switch was still able to sell a comparatively large number of units, even within its comparatively short period of availability.

Checking just now, I'm seeing the Switch at #2 on this list for the first time.

We don't know how their algorithm works, there's no way to infer anything meaningful from this.
 

Taker666

Member
France is one of the best market for Nintendo in Europe and it's not sold out anywhere, you can find every Switch version everywhere, it's worrying.

But it's n°1 in gaming part of the website ( with Zelda ) first non-Nintendo related stuff is at 11:

https://www.amazon.fr/gp/bestsellers/videogames/ref=sr_bs_1_videogames_1

here's the link if people want to get one:

https://www.amazon.fr/Console-Nintendo-Switch-paire-Joy-Con/dp/B01M6ZGICT/ref=zg_bs_videogames_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=CMMSMQ4JTRYD117FSKJR

Mainland Europe pricing is crazy.

I don't know what Nintendo is thinking going over the 300 euro mark. No reason it should be over that even with a 20% sales tax.

It deserves to bomb hard in that region based on that alone.
 

Flintty

Member
I have the Neon pack ordered but was thinking of cancelling. Now I'm not sure. I don't need it at launch and I could just get Zelda on the U but I kinda want to keep the order just in case I can't get one when's I want it.

What irks me most is lack of launch game. If I get it day one, what the hell am I gonna use it for, unless I get Zelda? Weakest launch line up I can remember for any console.
 
There's going to be a shortage at least at some points a couple of months after launch because at the end of this month its Chinese new year and all the factories and supply chain will be closed for around 10 days.

So unless Nintendo manufacture enough buffer stock or pay for air freight from China (expensive) that delay will show up in the supply.
 

Drek

Member
The first ~5M or thereabouts will sell more or less as they come in stock. Since Nintendo is supposedly shipping 2M for launch and has continually shown a lack of concern for refilling the channel shortly after all product launches (or even holiday season surges) we'll likely see that first 5M take them into the Holiday 2017 season when Mario Odyssey and Christmas shopping should help the next ~2-3M stay relatively high demand as well.

Early 2018 is when we will begin to see real demand for the Switch. If there aren't frequent shortages through 2017 Nintendo will know they've really got a problem on their hands with that price point.

My guess is that we'll see something more like this though:

Launch: Sold out, Zelda as the carry title, slow refill as they hold back stock for holiday 2017 and to push their high demand/sold out narrative. MK8D and Splatoon 2 will help to keep the ~2-3M we'll see for the six months after launch moving off shelves.

They'll push another launch size or slightly larger shipment out for holiday 2017 with Mario, no bundle, and sell all of them very quickly.

Then we'll get into 2018 and sales will really depend on how good the games Nintendo has put out are, how the 3DS 3rd party support has migrated, and how strong their 2018 lineup looks.

I'm assuming they'll hold Pokemon Stars back for the 2018 Holidays. Do they port Smash for a mid-year title? What else do they have unrevealed as of now to boost those historically dry months for Nintendo hardware? If sales go limp in that window I'd expect Nintendo to move on a hardware price drop to $250.00 before the holiday season if needed, knowing they can include BotW as a pack-in for the holidays without costing them the big sales software (Mario and Pokemon) but still really upping the value on the package.

Nintendo was pretty aggressive in trying to up the value on the 3DS and Wii U after their poor initial sales (following pretty much sold out launches, FYI). If the Switch's price point really holds it back (which I think it will following the inherently supply constrained year one) they'll have options on how to bring the price down aggressively. If they do so they should be able to maintain the Nintendo tradition of a supply constrained holiday season for several years after the system launches, along with doing the same for most of year one. supply constrained through the spring, summer, and early fall though will really depend on how much the system actually catches on and for Nintendo is the difference between the Switch selling 35-45M units versus 50-60M. Supply constrained in the spring/summer/early fall of 2018 and the later is much more likely with the ceiling moving up along with it. Readily available through early and mid 2018? The system is going to need some aggressive price adjustment or fall short of 3DS lifetime units which for Nintendo is more or less the standard of success at this point.
 

Linkyn

Member
My brother tried pre-ordering it today and no unit appears to be available anywhere.

It's a video game console. I'd be surprised if it wasn't supply-constrained at launch. Even the Wii U had a strong launch, so there should be shortages regardless of how well (or not) the Switch ends up doing in the long run.
 
It looks like it will be sold out at launch, but will probably be fairly easy to find within a couple of months.

I do think there will Joycon and pro controller shortages for some time though.
 
If it's hard to find it will be an artificial scarcity, or else this would be as easy to find as a Wii U at launch and may still end up being that way.
 
Don't know about here in the UK. Will be short in supply at launch but after that who knows? It's quite expensive here and Zelda costs £60.
 

Apathy

Member
They are expecting to ship 2m through the end of March. Shortages will depend on how the stock is shipped (like if they send way less to places where it's going to be really expensive like Canada and reroute those to the US). It might be hard but they'll have to be shipping more right at the start of April
 
I just talked to a Gamestop rep. Take with a grain of salt, but Switch preorders closed last night at midnight. Regardless of how many they sold. They did not sell their whole presale allotment. The rep believes Nintendo may open up preorders at a later date again.

Doesn't inspire much confidence if Nintendo can't sell all the pre allocated amounts. It is possible you could be looking at a Wii U situation, where you will be able to get them at or soon after launch with no problem.
 
The system actually seems to have a pretty good supply for launch, comparable with the PS4 and XB1. When I worked at Gamestop stores were getting anywhere from 20-60 units to reserve and that seems to be a similar case here. Both companies actually upped production for launch and I remember having quite a few extra to sell on launch night of both systems and I'm hoping Nintendo ends up doing the same but it remains to be seen. Wii U was 20-30 if I remember correctly (sorry if I'm a bit off on any of those numbers its been several years XD) so this seems at least better then that at least.

I think they are aware that a scarcity issue for this system will not work in their favor like it did for the Wii, they need to meet demand as quickly as possible.

I just talked to a Gamestop rep. Take with a grain of salt, but Switch preorders closed last night at midnight. Regardless of how many they sold. They did not sell their whole presale allotment. The rep believes Nintendo may open up preorders at a later date again.

Doesn't inspire much confidence if Nintendo can't sell all the pre allocated amounts. It is possible you could be looking at a Wii U situation, where you will be able to get them at or soon after launch with no problem.
I don't think this is correct, speaking to a friend his store had their reserves closed when they weren't selling fast enough and they were giving them to stores that had already sold through and reopened reserves only briefly (which I think we saw yesterday) He also mentioned that people have continued to call and come in trying to reserve it after the fact as well so take that as you will.
 

Meesh

Member
Definitely a shortage... but that's ok for the time being for me, I'll be sure to get one down the road...
 
D

Deleted member 752119

Unconfirmed Member
Probably not. Preorders stayed up a decent amount of Tim and that probably covered most of the diehard day one early adopters. Big box stores will probably have some extra stock day one as well.

It will probably be a little scarce a few weeks after launch, but demand probably won't be high either--especially being spring rather than the holiday shopping season. If someone didn't care to preorder for Zelda, there's not much out in March or April to change their minds. Really just the Mario Kart port end of April. Splatoon 2, whatever month that hits will be the next thing to drive up demand and stock,should be plentiful by then.

There's also a ton of big releases on other platforms the first half of the year that will keep most core gamers busy and not thinking of buying a Switch for a couple of games vs waiting.
 
...It'll be months before we'll be able to get a good handle on whether that shortage is due to supply or demand basically...

...All the local pre orders have sold out, though thats probably to do with small allocations...

As I described in another post, the Switch has been sitting atop Amazon's 'Best Sellers in Videogames' chart since pre-orders first went live, despite the fact that it has been listed as 'Currently unavailable' (out of stock) for the vast majority of that time. Most of the other items on the 'Best Sellers' list have been available without interruption, but presumably the Switch was still able to sell a comparatively large number of units, even within its comparatively short period of availability. Checking just now, I'm seeing the Switch at #2 on this list for the first time.

We don't know how their algorithm works, there's no way to infer anything meaningful from this.

I'd certainly agree that the type of tentative inferences in my other post cannot be definitive (hence I say ”presumably" in the post above, for example), but I'm sure we could debate whether or not those inferences are more or less meaningful/substantive than the typical suppositions/speculative assertions that tend to occur at present in most of the other posts on this subject.

Never a bad idea to bring focus to the best available info, which would include (as you pointed out) any available info on Amazon's algorithm, or (as I just now learned from Hero_of_the_Day's post, above) the noteworthy fact that the duration of Switch's availability at various sites can be derived from the 'nowinstock.net' history:

Not in stock now, but nowinstock history shows that walmart has been putting them up every hour or so since last night. So, if you're dying for one I'd keep checking walmart and/or nowinstock.

EDIT: They just went up again on walmart. Granted, it will probably be gone in a heartbeat.

EDIT 2: Yep, they were gone in an instant. But, I saw it instock for a quick second!
 

jblank83

Member
If the 2 million world wide in March is accurate, is that really that low for a March launch?

No, not at all. Sony sold 1 million in NA on launch day in Nov 2013. It hit 2 million after one month, in Dec. PS4 didn't launch in other regions until later, EU about a month later and JPN in Feb 2014.

Nintendo isn't shorting by launching with 2 million units. The only arguable point is how much/often they ship stock to stores after that.

For comparison, PS3 launched with 400,000 units. Wii launched with something like a million, which was unprecedented at that time.

Point being no one ships 20 million on launch day. They make an educated, researched guess at how many to launch with. Then they gauge interest and ramp up production as needed. In example, IIRC, Wii started production at 1 million a month then ramped up to 2 million a month when it became obvious the thing was selling like crazy.
 
Only 2 million available for launch worldwide so it's guaranteed to sell out, if it hasn't already. How it's doing during the summer will be the real barometer.
 

Memento

Member
At launch, yes. But that is not exactly a barometer for sucess, especially considering Nintendo's historic in regards to undershiping.
 
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