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Nintendo Co. said shipments of its Switch console and related peripherals such as the Joy-Con controllers have been delayed by the coronavirus outbreak.
The affected gadgets, including the Ring-Con required to play its popular Ring Fit Adventure, are made in China for Japanese customers, the Kyoto-based company said in a statement without giving further details. Shipments to the U.S. and Europe will be unaffected, the company added. It also said it will delay taking domestic pre-orders for the Animal Crossing Switch bundle, though its Mar. 20 release date would remain the same.
A Nintendo spokesman told Bloomberg News that the company may consider shipping hardware from its production site in Vietnam to Japan if the virus situation worsens. The company is currently sending the majority of that inventory to the U.S.
Nintendo last week forecast full-year earnings that were short of expectations, sending its shares tumbling. Analysts have expressed concern about Nintendo’s ability to keep Switch momentum going in a year when both Microsoft Corp. and Sony Corp. are planning to unveil new competing consoles.
The supply bottleneck also comes at an inopportune time for Nintendo, which was already struggling to keep up with Ring Fit Adventure demand in Japan. The fitness game, released on Oct. 18, was the best-selling game in Japan in the week of Jan. 27, domestic game-market researcher Famitsu said Thursday.
Read more: Nintendo’s Tokyo Store Isn’t Large Enough for its Fan Base
(Updates with comment from Nintendo spokesman)
To contact the reporters on this story: Pavel Alpeyev in Tokyo at [email protected];Takashi Mochizuki in Tokyo at [email protected]
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Edwin Chan at [email protected], Vlad Savov, Peter Elstrom
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