Nintendo Switch Two Million Units Confirmed for Launch Month
The Nintendo Switch has been the talk of the town lately. Nintendo’s new console will come out in March 2017, and limited pre-orders have already sold out. People are worried that the NES Classic scenario is going to repeat itself. Fortunately, according to Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, two million units are ready for shipping worldwide during launch month.
In his interview with Wired magazine, Fils-Aime stated that the Nintendo Switch won’t have the same supply problems as the NES Classic did. When asked if Nintendo can forsee the number of consoles they’ll be able to ship in 2017, he said:
What we’ve said publicly is that there will be 2 million units that will be shipped worldwide for the launch, essentially through month one.
He acknowledged the supply demand problem that the NES Classic had. He reassured customers that the same scenario won’t repeat itself with the Switch.
Two million for essentially the first month is a huge number, especially when you look and see that this is not peak seasonality. This is essentially the first three weeks of March. Our focus is making sure that the consumer who wants to buy a Nintendo Switch can buy a Nintendo Switch. That’s how we build our supply chain, that’s how we think through the amount of product that’s available.
Fils-Aime said that the issue with the NES Classic was due to Nintendo underestimating the global demand. I have to say, that doesn’t sound right to me. It see,s like Nintendo’s strategy was to create artificial scarcity for the sake of marketing. And keeping in mind the “limited supply” of Switch pre-orders, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if history repeats itself.
And it’s not Fils-Aime’s fault. Nintendo of America is under strict control of Nintendo Japan, and there’s nothing they can do. We’ll see what happens. I really hope Nintendo pulls this off.
