Why It Will Be Difficult to Find a Nintendo Switch This Christmas (and What to Do About It)
Despite the approaching five years in the gaming market, the Nintendo Switch is still in high demand. All three models – Switch Lite and OLED Switch of the original design – are flying off the shelves; the last one seems to be sold out almost everywhere. However, if you want any of these for Christmas, you really should start the tough steps to find them. Today.
Shortage of chips means fewer switches for the holidays
In case you didn’t know, the world is currently experiencing a shortage of semiconductors . This shrinkage in the chip market affects virtually every industry that uses computers in their products. You may have heard of countless unfinished cars that sit idle, for example, waiting for available chips to power their computer systems.
This shortage has not spared the video game industry either. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed on Thursday that a shortage of semiconductor chips is impairing the company’s ability to manufacture new Switch consoles. Nintendo tentatively estimates it could ship 25.5 million units, but that number has now dropped to 24 million, down 6%.
At the moment this holiday season, there will likely be about 1.5 million fewer switches on the market than previously estimated. If you thought it would be difficult to find one to gift your child, friend, or even yourself, just imagine competing with over a million additional customers without Switch. Ouch.
Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like a Christmas miracle is going to happen here either. The President of Nintendo went on to say that there is no reason to believe that the slowdown in production will change to strong demand at the end of the year:
“We cannot produce enough to meet the demand we expect over the coming holiday season … There is currently no sign of improvement and the situation continues to be dire, so I cannot say how long it will last.”
Industry experts disagree on how long this deficit will last. Some are depressing about the situation, expecting it to return to normal by 2023 or 2024. Others hope that by 2022, demand will fall enough to get things back to normal. However long this situation lasts, it won’t go off fast enough to save Switch this holiday season.
How to find a switch for the holidays
Your best bet is to start shopping now. Right now. Launch your browser and start investigating.
The most requested version of the Switch is the new OLED model. This product is priced at $ 350, which is $ 50 more than the traditional Switch, and features a large OLED display. Because of its novelty, you’re more likely to come across “sold-out” banners when researching this. You might want to use a tracking site like Restockify , Stock Informer, or HotStock (or all three) that can send you alerts when a store has an OLED switch in stock.
If you can save time, checking in stores can be helpful as well. The store may say they are completely out of stock, but they might receive a new batch without being able to update their online records.
In posting this article, it doesn’t seem too hard to find a regular switch or a Lite switch. However, Amazon is not the best option right now, as they are low on inventory and prices are inflated. Other options like Best Buy or Target seem to have these devices in stock. Of course this depends on your location.
If you find that your local stores have switches right now, don’t fall for the false sense of security. Once that supply runs out, it will be impossible to tell how many switches will actually find their way to stores near you. If you want a switch and see it today, buy it; this decision could be the difference between a Nintendo Christmas and a sad IOU.