Definitely not, just as I don't believe that without the stock issues Switch would be doing a 17m+ 2017 like others believe.

Two opposing extremes.

Parts shortages are outside Nintendo's control. They cannot just click their fingers and conjure up an infinite supply of memory chips, nor can they afford to get into a bidding war with Apple for them.

Like a console, a supply chain is only as fast as its slowest part and can be bottlenecked if a single stage stalls.

There are many possible reasons why Switch stock is in short supply and artificial supply restriction certainly is a possibility. Other possibilities include poor logistics planning, having to modify or redesign part of the product due to a high failure rate, having to redesign due to needing to use different components due to component supply issues or simply shortage of components.

My feeling is the Switch will get a minor revision due to the dock and joycon issues and that might have caused a pause in production but it's mostly about Nintendo still being unsure whether the Switch will have a huge drop in sales like wii u so being conservative with shipment numbers which also means artificial scarcity I guess. This has the benefit of less unsold inventory and keeping consumer demand higher. I remember the wii u being cleared from Tesco shelves as they weren't selling and them downsizing their Nintendo shelf space. It was hugely damaging for this to be going on across retailers and quickly established the wii u as a huge failure. Clearly Nintendo did not want to repeat that mistake.

Yes. We're a fragile species. Nintendo knows this. We fear rejection and it's making us lust for Nintendo even more. I'm off to fap over rabbid princess peach now.

No way! I think Nintendo themselves misjudged just how popular the Switch would be and haven't been able to ramp up the production yet to meet the demand.

I think only conspiracy theorists believe Nintendo is deliberatly holding back stocks.

It's not asking much to take a look at the monthly sales figures on VGC and compare those with Nintendo's production numbers to confirm/debunk the notion that Nintendo is withholding stock on any significant level.

Realistically, Nintendo (or anyone for that matter) wants as many hardware units in the hands of consumers as possible, preferably in the hands of end users rather than Ebay flippers or console hoarders in the interest of building up that initial user base which only means more software units and Nintendo branded accessories sold.

If the argument shifts to "Nintendo is purposely not producing as many hardware units as they could sell" then the question becomes, then why did they announce they were doubling production goals in light of the better than projected initial sales performance?

Announcing that production will be doubled does nothing to feed the street level notion that supply will continue to be pinched for the foreseeable future, thus encouraging runs on and hoarding of supply. It's not like Nintendo made that announcement to spur sales of games and accessories among consumers who have yet to be able to find a Switch at retail.

Consumer interest simply outstrips Nintendo's production and shipping rates currently. Nintendo wouldn't have resorted to shipping units via air cargo, thus cutting into their margins if this weren't the case.

It's not really a conspiracy theory its just normal business practice. Who are they conspiring with anyway? 

They can't just phone up foxconn and say more Switch's please. They have to open more production lines at Foxconn requiring more investment and get new arrangements for components with suppliers. It's a big logistics exercise. It's not uncommon to ensure there is strong demand before commiting to higher production levels and investment. This also has the fringe benefit of creating pressure in consumer demand too so there are a quite a few commercial reasons to do this. I'ts not voodoo, tin hat or supernatural or anything else wierd or strange its just business.

I....what? The WiiU sat on shelves unwanted and unloved for years and eventually retailers just moved it out to clear shelve space. We even had threads on this site about the crazy (unofficial) discounts it was getting even though it had only released six months ago. There were provably no artificial shortages going on with the WiiU. It didn't sell and by the time it picked up a litte Nintendo had stopped production and the Switch was in the works, so rather than kick up production again wich would have been costly and ineffective, they let the leftover supply 'carry' it until it's demise last year.

Artifical demand only 'works' if you're actually trying to sell units. That's why it can't apply to either NES mini or the WiiU. Nintendo dicontinued both of them, thus they didn't gain anything by 'creating artificial supply'.

Amiibo were a surprise hit and sold out because they were popular. Nintendo did up production and most of the original 50 are readily available now. I get the feeling they downsized manifacturing quatities again for the newer Amiibos, with waning Amiibo popularity though. The Zelda BotW ones haven't seen a single restock since launch for example.

I think it's likely. With their past, I could believe it. They could build up this strong desire to have what ppl can't have: a Switch. At least not at a decent price. Then around Christmas, they could release a huge ammount of them at record sales. Supply constraints because of competition with Apple may be a rumor spread by Nintendo themselves. I'm not saying that Nintendo is doing this, but I do feel that it is likely.

Also, I am aware that this site has (at least it seems this way to me) a majority of Nintendo fans, so I expect hate for my opinion, but you asked a question and I answered honestly.

Yes they do it's not like they got so many other product to make its Clever idea to make it looks like demand is so high for the console