Australian Nintendo Switch stock is drying up (Update: Nintendo responds)

Update: We have received a comment back from Nintendo Australia, with a spokesperson giving us the following response to our story.

We can confirm that the manufacturing of some Nintendo products for the Japanese market has been delayed due to the impact of the COVID-19 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 Australia / New Zealand, North America and Europe, including preorders, are not affected. 

We would like to express our concern and support for all those affected by the COVID-19 outbreak during this challenging time.

Nintendo Australia spokesperson via email

Original Story: We’ve been following the supply of Nintendo Switch consoles around the country for a couple of weeks now. We expected them to dry up eventually due to the ongoing on COVID-19 coronavirus situation but it looks like it’s this week that it’s finally running out.  

If you’re looking at buying a Nintendo Switch this Friday, you might have to search around. Stocks for both the Neon and Grey consoles are both in patchy supply around most of Australia. At EB Games the bulk of stores in Victoria and NSW are sold out. In other states, it’s not as bad but we wouldn’t call it widely available. Regional stores, Queensland and  Western Australian EB stores all seem to have enough stock of the grey model. 

JB Hi-Fi is also patchy with at the time of writing the Neon console not even listed on the website currently. The grey console is in stock in Victoria, but out of stock in NSW metro, and there’s none in the west. Adelaide has some, but Brisbane is also out. 

Target and Big W don’t list the original console on their website at all, Harvey Norman is also not listing it anymore. Independent retailer Gamesmen only has the console bundled with games, likely a sign they don’t have many. Amazon has the consoles in stock, but only the grey one with a date that’s not more than two weeks away. 

Stock of the Nintendo Switch Lite however still seems fairly abundant at all stores. We contacted Nintendo Australia to see what the situation was and if there would be any re-stocks before Animal Crossing drops on Friday but we did not get a reply in time for publishing.