Low Stock on Purpose?

[Darktroyd]

I know Nintendo wouldn't want to shoot themselves in the foot because of low stock(*looks at NES classic*) at least not after the failure of the Wii U. However, do you guys think they will hold back units now so they can sell more for the holidays? If so, do you think this will do more to hurt them or help them?

 

[robertk328]

Probably not, but hard to know. If they've done it before, guess it's not unheard of to do it again. Create a faux demand to drum up interest but I'd bet it turns others off as well.

 

[Matty]

I don't think they will hold back anything. if a customer wants to buy something, I'll do everything I can to get it to them.

The only company I know about which purposefully held back stock was 'OnePlus' with their OnePlus 1 and 2. Hopefully they can ramp up production in the next few weeks. It's a really awesome product!

 

[SparklyPickle]

Most probably. Those are so rare!

 

[IvanKaramazov]

I doubt they'd intentionally hold back stock, there's little evidence that actually drives up demand for a consumer item like the Switch, and it prevents them from making actual sales. Plus, all recent news is that they're producing the consoles as fast as they can! https://www.theverge.com/2017/5/28/15706682/nintendo-switch-reportedly-boosting-production-gaming

 

[Lucy Davies]

The game stores where I live in the U.K. always say they have limited stock. Also when the Wii was first released one shop only had two Wii consoles in from Nintendo so they could be supplying few Switch consoles.

 

[TheGreatAstronomer]

I think that's probably the case. I haven't seen anywhere with stock. Even the huge supermarkets too.

 

[radrianne24]

I know with stocks they're always gonna have a limited amount since the wii days they've always held back on that end

 

[bikewolf]

I think it's a parts issue.

 

[mvpilot172]

I think it was a mix of different things that lead to the shortage. Nintendo was probably hesitant to invest more money than necessary for launch due to the WiiU. Nintendo doesn't have the supply chain companies like Apple and Samsung have either to rapidly ramp up production. Maybe parts for the Switch were being bought at a premium by another company for other hardware and Nintendo wasn't willing to out bid them. I'm sure they'll be pretty easy to get if not by the holidays season then after that when the initial boom dies down.

 

[Robert Newman4]

Nintendo has been struggling in recent years. I don't believe the low stock is on purpose. I think they genuinely lack the resources to manufacture enough product to meet initial demand.

I also think they are being cautious and thus chose to be conservative in building out their manufacturing capacity prior to new product releases.

 

[bubble100100]

I've heard there's a shortage of the NAND storage that the Switch uses. Believe it or not, Nintendo's in competition with Apple for that storage, and you know how much pull Apple has. Combine that with the fact that Nintendo didn't want to be too optimistic after the Wii U's failure, and you get this situation. Console launches are often like this, though. Especially Nintendo.

 

[elims35]

I dont think the intention was to prevent players from getting their hands on one, but I do think they made few as a cautious, protective measure to prevent losses if some aspect of the product backfired!

 

[GlassHasMass]

I bet they are building stock so that they can provide units to stores for the holidays.

I'm not a employee at Nintendo so this is all just speculation but it makes sense to me.

 

[stephina10]

They had seriously not be holding back. I desperately want one. I even looked on international stores and their sold out there too.

 

[splatune]

There are a couple of things to keep in mind here:
* They have to compete for other non-gaming mobile devices for parts. The demand can make them cheaper, but also can mean low stock available for them to work with.
* Nintendo didn't know how the Switch was gonna do before it released. They could have had another Wii U on their hands, so the smart play is to just produce what they can without breaking the bank. It's kind of like how you'll see Netflix do stuff like only release 4 episodes of Castlevania or half of a season of Little Witch Academia. Sometimes you need to test the waters before deciding how to proceed.
* Low stock + high demand is kind of a win/win for them. It makes some super users a little upset, but those same super users will find a way to get one and then they'll quiet down. The more casual crowd are willing to wait and will still just pay full price for a console a few months later.

 

[xxchai]

I don't think so, I know when I was looking to purchase a Wii U almost no one in my area had one to sell. However with the switch there are already so many people who are selling them locally. It seems like people are more into the switches compared to the Wii U.

 

[splatune]

Oh yeah I'm not arguing that. The Switch is clearly already on track to be much more successful than the Wii U.

 

[Reed Parish]

I wouldn't be so surprised if they had limited stock on purpose. The reason why is because they built up hype around the console to make more sales, unlike the wii u.

 

[Reed Parish]

They had seriously not be holding back. I desperately want one. I even looked on international stores and their sold out there too.

I know it is nuts. I can't get my hands on one.