Update: After reaching out to Nintendo of America for a comment we received the following statement
We can confirm that the manufacturing of some Nintendo products for the Japanese market has been delayed due to the impact of 2019-nCoV coronavirus outbreak. Nintendo does not anticipate a significant impact on our broader global supply chain for systems and accessories at this time, and product sales in North America and Europe, including preorders, are not affected. We would like to express our concern and support for all those affected by the coronavirus during this challenging time.
It seems that while the Coronavirus is taking its toll on sales coming out of China that its effect is still minimal.
Nintendo Switch shipments (and shipments of related accessories) are facing delays due to the outbreak of the coronavirus in China.
Like many hardware manufacturers, Nintendo has a portion of its consoles made in China. Unfortunately, the threat of the coronavirus has led them to announce that production and shipping of the Nintendo Switch and related accessories are going to be delayed.
Here is the machine-translated apology, straight from the horse's mouth:
Impact of New Coronavirus Infection on Production and Shipping of Nintendo Switch and Other Products (Apology)
Thank you for your patronage of our products.
Due to the new coronavirus infection that is currently occurring, it is expected that production and shipment delays will be inevitable for peripheral devices such as the Nintendo Switch and Joy-Con manufactured in China for the Japanese domestic market. Was. Similarly, shipments of the currently out-of-stock "Ring Fit Adventure" are expected to be delayed.
We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
We will work hard to deliver the product as soon as possible, while keeping an eye on the effects of the new coronavirus infection, and we look forward to your understanding.
At the moment, only the Japanese domestic market is affected, but there's the possibility that delays could come to the West, too.
Will the Nintendo Switch Shipments Be Delayed in the West?
Currently, things are pretty rough for the Japanese market in terms of Nintendo Switch shipments. The country was already facing shortages of Ring Fit Adventure's Ring Controller and other peripherals, and now it seems like things might get worse there.
As Kotaku reports, Nintendo has already pushed back the release date of the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Horizons Nintendo Switch. At the time of writing, the release date for this special edition console remains unchanged for the United States. (Shipments of digital and physical copies of the game currently remain on-track in all regions.)
There is still the risk that the coronavirus problems might slow down shipping to the West. US Gamer details the crux of the issue: most of the Japanese hardware is manufactured in China, but that which goes to the West is sourced from the company's factory in Vietnam. If Nintendo decides to move some of the Vietnamese product into Japan to deal with shortfalls there, there would naturally be fewer consoles and hardware to go around in the West.
We've reached out to Nintendo on the subject and will update this piece when we receive a reply. In the meantime, it's probably not a good idea to delay getting a Nintendo Switch (or any related peripherals) if you've been waiting to do so — you might end up waiting longer than you'd want.
What do you think of the delay in Nintendo Switch shipments in Japan? Do you think America and Europe will be affected? Let us know in the comments below!
