Japan Goes Switch Crazy; Supply Starved Consumers Line Up For Lottery Chance To Buy A Switch.

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xl-klaudkil said:
Do we really need a topic each time Nintendo creates artificial " shortages" to create a artificial hype?

Its not selling faster as the ps4 and sony could make enough system after launch,soo can Nintendo.

5 things to consider:

1. Nintendo lowballed the Switch to make sure they don't get into the same trouble they had with both the 3DS and especially the Wii U early on. Nintendo was producing way too much of them at first, and they where clogging their warehouses. It got so bad that Nintendo had to stop entirely the production of the Wii U for a long time and made the console more expensive to produce again afterwards (due to a much worse position when renegotiating the production contracts). As a result the initial production was quite low - way too low for the demand of the switch, but still more than twice of what the Wii U sold. Their plan was for 8 Million Switch, which is about what the Xbox ONE sells

2. Nintendo is upping up the production, and already announced this even before the launch of the console after they got the first numbers from preorders and shop orders, doubling it from 8 to 16 million. They even announced a couple of weeks ago an increase to 18 millions to meet demand during the holiday season. But production increases take time to take their effect, and the full effect, when all parts of the production and delivery chain are set to the new motion, is normally only felt months after the initiative was taken.

3. The mere fact that the Switch is duking it out with the PS4 in weekly sales means that they already managed to increase production quite well. Otherwise, it would be duking it out with the Xbox ONE

4. Didn't you get the news about the shortage of parts (probably mainly RAM, as their prices are rising since last summer in PCs by about 100% too)? Sony and Microsofts contracts predate the shortages and thus come first, just like any device put into production before the Switch. Really big orders, like those from most smartphone producers, also do. Which puts Nintendo basically at the end of the waiting line. With the Internet of Things now also gobbling up ressources, the situation is probably not going to change soon, though Nintendos position might get better over time.

5. I don't get why some people are thinking about artificial demand, and always at the expense of Nintendo? I don't hear anybody say that about the PS4 Pro, for instance, even though that one is also hard to get in some regions. Unlike Sony or Microsoft, Nintendo doesn't have tons of storage space, so they're forced to calculate more conservatively. What happens if they don't? Well, just look at the Wii U, which like I said before had to be stopped in production and then restarted at a higher cost than it had initially due to the lower numbers and bad negociation position from having to stop production entirely.

VideoGameAccountant said:

IkePoR said:

This is bananas. Sadly, there isn't much Nintendo can do about the supply-demand problem:

Edit:
https://www.wsj.com/articles/nintendo-battles-apple-for-parts-as-switch-demand-rises-1496136603 - WSJ is stupid.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2017/05/nintendo_in_competition_with_apple_for_in-demand_switch_parts

Something interesting from the article that I overlooked originally

Of course, companies producing smartphones tend to make larger orders than Nintendo, so analysts say they often have better terms than the big N when it comes to acquiring these sought-after parts.

I wonder if part of Nintendo's reason for upping supply to 18 million was to secure better terms. 

I'm pretty sure it does, at least to some extent.