Between April 1 and June 30, the company moved just shy of two million Switch consoles, bringing the total of worldwide sales up to 4.7 million units and putting Nintendo on track to sell 10 million Switch consoles in its first year of availability.
The updated Switch sales numbers come from Nintendo’s most recent quarterly earnings report, which the company released Wednesday.
All those Switch sales — in addition to two massive hit games in “The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild” and “Mario Kart 8 Deluxe” — have led to a major increase in revenue: 154.07 billion yen ($1.38 billion) between April 1 and June 30. That’s a huge change over the same quarter last year, to the tune of nearly 150 percent.
But that sales number could be even higher for the Switch, and there’s one major issue getting in the way: People can’t buy one easily.
Since the Nintendo Switch launched in early March, it has sold out everywhere. A quick search of Amazon or, more appropriately, GameStop highlights the problem — there are none available (unless you want to pay a premium for one from a reseller).
No wait list, or way to reserve one, or any solution other than keep trying. And that supply issue is limiting Nintendo’s ability to sell the Switch, so it’s attempting to increase production.
“What we are doing, as quickly as we can, is scaling up the production to make more available into the marketplace,” Nintendo America President Reggie Fils-Aimé told IGN in June. “To get to the point where every consumer who wants a Nintendo Switch can find a Nintendo Switch.”
It’s not clear whether Nintendo will catch up with demand and, if so, when — in the case of the Nintendo Wii, for instance, shortages were persistent for years after launch. But demand for the Switch is only going to increase as the year barrels toward the holiday season. Not only is a huge new “Super Mario” game planned for launch in October, but the holiday sales season will naturally drive up demand for the Switch as a gift.
This article was originally published on Business Insider. Copyright 2017.
