The impact of the coronavirus worldwide has surely been felt in a large number of industries around the world, with the games industry seeing some notable impacts from the pandemic. This has especially been the case with sales of hardware and other physical products, with consoles running in short supply due to production issues and increased demand from consumers looking to spend more time indoors. The Nintendo Switch has particularly been hard to come by in the last few weeks, but Nintendo seems to be on its way towards bringing more units to stores worldwide soon.
In a report from GamesIndustry.biz, Nintendo has provided a statement that the company expects more Switch system units to begin shipping to stores in the near future. A representative from Nintendo explained that “Switch hardware is selling out at various retail locations in the U.S., but more systems are on the way.”
Specifically, in a tweet from Nintendo’s Japanese Twitter account, the company said that at the moment standard shipping for Switch units is on hold while supply chain issues are being resolved. Customers that reserved systems within the past few weeks, such as the limited edition Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch console, are expected to receive their orders within this week.
[お知らせ]Nintendo Switch本体（「あつまれ どうぶつの森 本体セット」含む）ならびにNintendo Switch Lite本体は、ご予約分を除き今週の出荷はございません。来週以降の出荷予定については改めてお知らせいたします。
— 任天堂株式会社 (@Nintendo) April 7, 2020
According to Nintendo, the company’s standard shipments of consoles to retailers are “delayed,” most likely as a result of production issues caused by the impact of the coronavirus. This especially seems to be the case in production facilities in China where the majority of the Switch’s components are made. However, as production facilities are beginning to reopen in parts of the country, hopefully this can loosen some of the supply constraints and bottlenecks that have occurred during the pandemic and bring more systems back to retailers soon.
As GamesIndustry.biz noted, Switch consoles across large parts of Europe and the US are in small supply at the moment, though the Nintendo Switch Lite is still available through some retailers. The shortages seemingly have had the most impact on the base system, with sales of Switch consoles having jumped by over 150% throughout March. As more and more people (especially families) are staying indoors to practice social distancing, it would make sense that consumers would probably opt for the original Switch to play on a TV with friends or family versus the handheld-only Switch Lite.
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