In a recent Q&A with shareholders (and shared by VGC), Nintendo has addressed concerns around launch availability of the successor to its massively-popular Switch console.
When asked about what the company will do to prevent the new device from being widely scalped, similar to what we saw with the launch of the PlayStation 5 and in the face of semiconductor shortages in recent years that hugely affected the console market, Nintendo’s executives confirmed that the core plan to combat scalping activity will simply be to ensure there’s enough stock to begin with.
Aside from simply aiming to make sure anyone who wants to buy a “Switch 2″ at launch can do so without turning to resellers, Nintendo also said that it’s “taking into account the circumstances in each region.”
The other point of concern coming out of the Q&A is the company’s ability to produce that much hardware at launch, no doubt borne of those earlier component shortages that affected Switch supply for a hot minute. Nintendo’s Shuntaro Furukawa, though, dismissed those concerns.
“Last year and the year before, we were unable to produce sufficient quantities of Nintendo Switch hardware due to a shortage of semiconductor components, but this situation has now been resolved,” the president explained.
“At present, we do not believe that the shortage of components will have a significant impact on the production of the successor model.”
Nintendo says its main plan to avoid Switch 2 scalping is to make enough of them to meet demand in the first place.https://t.co/htEo8ji8aE pic.twitter.com/HgqTy1HPzW
— VGC (@VGC_News) July 1, 2024
Nintendo has previously said that it will announced its next console, widely believed to be a successor to the Switch in terms of general form and function, albeit with beefed-up specs.
“This is Furukawa, President of Nintendo,” a post on X earlier this year read. “We will make an announcement about the successor to Nintendo Switch within this fiscal year. It will have been over nine years since we announced the existence of Nintendo Switch back in March 2015. We will be holding a Nintendo Direct this June regarding the Nintendo Switch software lineup for the latter half of 2024, but please be aware that there will be no mention of the Nintendo Switch successor during that presentation.”
