Nintendo Was So Successful With the Switch 2 Launch That Even Preparing To Be Successful Wasn’t Enough

Nintendo has had a pretty good go of things with the Switch 2. The system launched to massive success, selling 3.5 million units in the first four days. And by most accounts, people are enjoying their time with the console. Yet, NStyles on the website formerly known as Twitter took the time to transcribe the recent Nintendo Shareholders Meeting. A question to Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa regarding the supply of the console came up.

that switch 2 lottery is doing a lot of heavy lifting

The question posed was this:

“About Switch 2. It was released this month, and I understand that it has not been able to meet domestic demand. Is the reason for this a shortage of production units or a failure to predict demand? Are there any improvements to be made when launching new products in the future?“

His response is below:

“Currently, in many countries, the demand for Switch 2 exceeds the supply, and we are unable to meet it. We understand that some shareholders have also been unable to obtain it. We started accepting lottery sales at My Nintendo Store in April. The response far exceeded our expectations, and I announced in my name on X that there were 2.2 million applicants, along with an apology.

Since then, we have conducted four lottery sales, but some people were not selected. We have announced that the fifth lottery will take place starting in July. Many general retailers have also conducted lottery sales. The number of stores offering in-store sales is gradually increasing. As a company, we are working to improve our production system to deliver as many units as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience caused by this initial demand, which greatly exceeded our expectations.”

the big n not seeing this coming is interesting

All throughout the lead-up to the launch, I remember hearing how much effort Nintendo was putting into making sure they could meet demand. And they still didn’t have enough for not just Japan, but also other countries. I mean, on one hand, it shows that you can’t listen to the internet. On the other hand, there was only so much they could do. Considering the tariff-related issues they were walking into at pre-order time, I’d imagine a great deal of their focus went to making sure they didn’t have to deal with too much of it.

Unfortunately, as a result, that left gamers in Japan dried-up. I’m sure that supply will get bolstered in the coming months. It does suck for them that they have to rely on a lottery system for a console made in their home country, though. Hopefully, the lottery becomes a thing of the past, and folks can just walk into a store and pick it up whenever they want.