UK Retailers Laments Nintendo Switch Shortages, Still Optimistic of Future

While Nintendo fans around the world are starting to suffer from the Nintendo Switch shortage fatigue, it is important to note that global Nintendo Switch shortage stills carry on.

From an article by MCV (link), retailers in UK are disappointed that their stock allocation were on the low side; They were even lower than when the Wii first launched, which faced similar shortages. Though GameSeek’s CEO Stephen Stanley attributed it to communication issues between Nintendo and UK distributors, given the global shortage, it is not hard to see that even without the communication problems, a shortage will still exist.

“It seems there are communication issues with Nintendo Europe and the UK distributors,” says Staley. “I feel like we should be trading direct, in all honesty. We got many more Wii consoles ten years ago; yet there are far more Switch consoles on the market.”

However it is not all doom and gloom. Despite the shortages, retailers are still upbeat about the Nintendo Switch. Retailer ShopTo’s head of commerce, Alison Fraser thinks that despite everything, the Nintendo Switch had a positive impact overall.

“Switch has been a good news story on a whole. Yes, stock has been short and we – along with the rest of retail – could have sold more units, but the sales have continued with every stock drop. It seems like many third-party publishers have been wary to launch new releases until the success was gauged over the first six months of the console.”

““The titles that have launched have generally been short of stock, so builds must start to increase through Q4. There does still seem to be a shortage of Christmas launches, although the titles that are coming are top titles that should be very successful.”

This was seconded by Game Centre’s managing director Robert Lindsay.

Lindsay thinks the Switch has managed to revitalise the UK market: “Switch has provided a most unexpected shot in the arm for retail this year. Software support has been good after a meagre launch, and there is a definite consumer buzz around the console.”

So overall while Nintendo struggles to push out more Switch consoles around the world and UK retailer are having it bad, at least they are hopeful about the Switch, which stood in start contrast against its predecessor. You can read more about the interviews with retailer’s at MCV’s article here.