New shipments of the Nintendo Switch are arriving at GameStop stores across the country as fast as they are selling them. Since day one, Nintendo's newest console has been flying off store shelves and the demand was so great, Nintendo was forced to ship them via planes in spite of the expensive airfreight shipping. The Switch's second launch title, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is now the fastest selling Mario Kart game ever and has sold 459,000 copies since launch.
MK8 And Nintendo Switch Are Selling Well
Nintendo Switch is now considered to be number two in overall worldwide console sales. Nintendo has reported it reached a total of 2.74 million sales from March 3 (Switch's launch) through March 31 when its 2016 fiscal year ended. This places the Nintendo Switch in between the successful PS4 and Xbox One.
Nintendo forecasts that the Switch will get to 10 million more through March 2017 when the current fiscal year ends. Following the success of Nintendo Switch's first launch title, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is now officially the fastest-selling title in the series' history. Both digital and physical retail copies sold across the United States have reached a total of 459,000 since launch day. On April 28, 2017, Nintendo launched Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and the sales resulted in an attach rate of 45 percent, which means one in two Nintendo Switch owners purchased a copy.
Nintendo Struggles With Supply And Demand
Nintendo Switch units have been flying off retail shelves since launch and the company has been struggling with meeting the demands. Units are still selling out immediately and have not slowed down since day one. Forbes talked to Eric Bright, GameStop's Senior Director of Merchandising, who said the Switch continue to outsell predictions. "It's exceeding our expectations," he said. "We knew it would be a high-demand product, but our Switch allocations are selling out not in days, but in hours...the demand is so high that consumers have to react quickly to be able to get their hands on them."
Not even Nintendo could predict the extent of the Switch's success, which is why it is struggling to meet consumer's demands. Nintendo shipped 2.74 million units worldwide - 35 percent more than the intended number. Nintendo went above and beyond when it decided to meet the higher than expected demand by shipping the consoles via airfreight shipping in March. Air freight shipping is extremely expensive and cost Nintendo $45 per unit so not many companies are willing to use it. With the Switch's and its launch titles a success, Nintendo is on a roll and will continue to be for a while.
