Nintendo's supply and demand problem

[bikingjahuty]

This is a topic that I've got into some fairly fierce debates about over the last year or so regarding whether Nintendo is purposely keeping supply limited and low to drive up the interest in their products or if they are truly just incompetent at meeting the demand their products garner. What do you all think?



I am of the belief that Nintendo is toying with the consumer and purposely keeping supply low and limited in order to drive demand for their products through the roof. They did it with Amiibos (and seem to be doing it again), they did it with the NES classic, and now even the Switch seems to be their next attempt at manipulating the market's interest. I'd be lying if I said it wasn't an effective tactic, but at the same time the consumer is who gets hurt the most; having to put your life on hold to stand in front of a Best Buy or Target for hours before they even open is definitely a sign that you should be cranking out more of item X in order to meet the feverish demand. I am sure Nintendo is fully aware that if they released more of their merchandise to meet demand they'd sell it, but I think they're afraid of demand cooling because their products are not difficult to obtain. I think they believe that keeping interest high for as long as possible, even while keeping supply low will result in greater profits for them over time. But that is just my observation and opinion.

[oldgamerz]

I still wish that the NES mini's were not $400.00. I guess I should have jumped on the band wagon when they first came out. But I don't mind someone might have killed me for it anyway. I would like to give Nintendo my money but they currently don't sell anything I like so I guess life goes back to the video game graveyard or other vendors but someone complained. But just to set things straight I only have one a game or console. I do have some duplicates I need to shave off and give to someone else but there sports titles.

[kamikazekeeg]

I think it's a mixture of column A and column B.  The Switch was clearly rushed to release, so production simply wasn't ready for the demand.  On the other hand, with things like the Classic line and Amiibos, that is where they can build hype.  I think it had already been said that the Classic line is mostly just pure advertising and marketing sake.  Draw people with memories back to Nintendo systems with the Classic, maybe then they'll buy a Switch.  The Switch (and the 3DS) is the big money maker and that's the one where they have no reason to delay product, especially with all their talk about the millions of consoles they plan to sell.

[ignition365]

There are articles and official statements from nintendo that firmly support column A as a business practice, but the problem is that how they do it recently is more harmful to the consumer and their products when folks get so angry and fed up and have no choice but to turn to ebay.

[Flashback2012]

I would LOVE to collectively throat-punch Nintendo for continuing to use this nonsensical practice. It gets rather tiresome to try and give a company money/business/support when they continually act like a fool. The only people who seem to benefit from the tactic are the scalper/flippers/specullectors who prey on the desperate idiots that have more money than common sense.

Take for example earlier today where I tried for Corin P2 from Amazon and it sold out within minutes. By the time I was able to get to the site to try and order one, they were all gone and people were posting them at a MINIMUM of $90 all the way up to $200. 

Now I can completely understand the logistical aspect they're trying to accomplish with not having warehouses of excess inventory, plenty of product on store shelves and a promising prospect of near complete sell through. What Nintendo fails to understand is that EVERY company who manufactures would love to achieve this and they somehow think they've got the leg up on everyone else by employing their scarcity tactic. The initial brunt of consumer apathy and ill will is felt by the retailer and I'm rather surprised that they (the retailers) were collectively quick to forget that. I guess Nintendo was like "See! We (over)produced a bunch (of shitty AC & Mario Party amiibos) and now you've got a ton of unsold inventory on your hands! We tried it your way and it didn't work!" 

Meh. This has been going on since the NES days and I don't ever expect them to fully give up the goat on the tactic. I have NO doubt the SNES Classic is going to be a PAIN to try and acquire despite them saying they'll make more. I saw on Reddit that Wal-Mart offered pre-orders on it which crashed their site within minutes. 

I guess one small solace is that I have NO problem buying Nintendo software used whenever I can find it at a decent price. Not much I can do about Amiibos since I want them in the packaging but I'll happily continue to pick up Wii/WiiU/Switch games pre-owned so they don't get any additional profit from me. Sure it's like trying to drain the ocean with a teacup but it makes me feel ever-so-slightly better.  

[ferraroso]

Back in my time, when a company was unable to meet the demands, it was almost forced to make a formal apology to its consumers.
https://youtu.be/FVGMypC-v6E

But recently, I've seen people paying top dollar for NES minis and Switches and some even complimenting Nintendo's "bold marketing strategy".

Nintendo... with each passing day, my hatred towards this company only grows.

[Nickkchilla]

Scalpers love Nintendo.

[Warmsignal]

I agree it's a marketing strategy. Keep people begging for the items, and it creates more buzz and more hype behind the product. They've done this for many years and it works well for them. Nintendo products stay hot, they stay valuable, and everyone recognizes them. It can be frustrating, but ultimately it keeps people talking about them and their products, rather than fading into irrelevancy since they no longer directly compete with other industry leaders. They play their own little game, and they do it well from a business standpoint.

[hoshichiri]

I think it's a mix of reasons- Amiibos were deliberate, the NES mini started as a mis-read of demand (but is definitely deliberate for the SNES mini), and the Switch is genuine production issues- although I have seen 2 on store shelves in the last week, so either that's sorting itself out or I just got lucky.

The bigger issue is, Nintendo doesn't see this as a problem. They tend to operate like a toy company, where buzz and scarcity gets parents desperately hunting down & overpaying for whatever the hot new thing is that will stop their spawn from screaming for a few months before it goes off to the thrifts/dump. Which garners a lot of resentment for people who want a thing but aren't interested in repeating the Cabbage Patch Kid/Furby/Zhu Zhu mobs of years past.

The sad part is, they're getting so complacent about providing a decent amount of stock, I'd wager the scalpers are now out-profiting them. You'd think someone would notice and suggest a couple more production runs, just for extra cash.