Nintendo Switch production ramped up but supply will only be able to meet demand by June

Nintendo confirmed that its Switch console is sold out across the U.S. While the company has been ramping up production of the gaming hardware it might take some time for supply to normalize.

“Nintendo Switch hardware is selling out at various retail locations in the US, but more systems are on the way,” the company said in a statement, Business Insider reported. “We apologize for any inconvenience.”

Since its launch in 2017, the Nintendo Switch became the fastest-selling console in the U.S. In just three short years, more than 52 million consoles were sold.

But with millions of people forced to stay at home due to the coronavirus pandemic, the demand for the already popular Switch console skyrocketed as families prepare for ways to entertain their children at home. Already hard to find under normal circumstances, the console quickly became sold out across the country.

The Nintendo Switch is already out of stock in major retailers such as Walmart, Best Buy, Amazone, GameStop, and Target. The only option is to get it through third-party resellers on Amazon but the consoles are offered from $475 to nearly $500, a rather steep price compared to its $300 MSRP, according to Forbes.

The good news is that Nintendo is already aware of the availability issue and is taking steps to correct it. The bad news is that gamers might have to wait a bit longer for the consoles to be available once more.

Nintendo has been ramping production of the Switch console. But it won’t still be able to meet the demand of the console by April. “April is going to be a fairly rough month in terms of supply,” Niko Partners Senior Analyst Daniel Ahmad said. “It's not going to recover.”

The analyst estimates that supply will be able to meet demand by June. “We think that by May, and especially June — the end of Q2 — things will be back to normal with supply,” Ahmad added. “And that's because right now, production is ramping up. So we'll start to see the effects of that come late May, June — certainly by the end of Q2.”