They're not going to make it...

Back in July, when Nintendo Switch pre-orders were selling out instantly, and supply of the units was obviously an issue, the company was sounding confident that solutions were imminent, and that there would be plenty of Switches in stores for the busy XMas shopping season. "To take advantage of this favourable momentum, we will continue to bolster our manufacturing facilities and strive to increase production in preparation for the Christmas period, which has been factored into our forecast of shipping 10 million units globally by the end of this fiscal year," was what they were saying to DigitalSpy at the time.

By September, that had changed, with Reggie Fils-Aimé transitioning the company's message from confidently predicting amply XMas supply, to cautiously explaining to the Financial Times why that wasn't going to happen:

Nintendo’s US chief has warned Switch customers to prepare for potential disappointment this Christmas, as demand for its hit games console continues to exceed supply.

Since the Switch launched in March, the hybrid console — it can be used as a handheld device on its own or plugged into a television at home — has been selling out almost as soon as new stock arrives in stores around the world.

In Nintendo’s domestic market of Japan, the shortages have been especially acute, with new machines being sold by lottery or changing hands on auction sites at double the retail price of around ¥30,000 ($280).

In an interview on the sidelines of Variety’s Entertainment and Technology Summit 2017 in Los Angeles, Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo of America, told the FT that supply shortages of multiple components, coupled with higher-than-expected demand from customers, were behind the protracted shipping delays.

Well, that nearly two months ago now, and it would seem that the  situation has not changed significantly, because M. Fils-Aimé is once again hard at work, getting out ahead of the story. From The Verge:

“Broadly speaking, it’s been a strong year and a strong launch for the Nintendo Switch,” says Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé.

But even within one of Nintendo’s most important years, a lingering issue remains: supply. For many, the Switch remains hard to find in stores, even months after launch. A quick stock check at Best Buy suggests that supply and demand are finally starting to level out, thankfully. And while the SNES Classic fared much better than the original NES Classic, which was near impossible to purchase, it’s still nowhere near readily accessible to walk-in consumers at most electronics stores.

[...]

“I wish we would have more hardware. Our inability to meet demand is not something that is satisfying in any way, shape, or form. And we’re working hard to satisfy as much demand as possible.” Fils-Aimé says that the company has made changes to its supply chain to improve the situation, and notes that we’ll likely hear more on the subject next week, when Nintendo announces its financial results. “I expect that our chief executive Mr. Kimishima will comment on this,” he says.

So, to recap, the message has gone from We'll have enough, don't worry;  to This is why we might not have enough, actually; to We don't have enough, we're not going to this year, and my boss will comment further next week when he has to explain why our quarterly results are below expectations. Yikes.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Nintendo's Switch might be off to a brisk start, but they still have a lot of obstacles to get over, and they're a long way from being out of the woods. We'll have to see how the PS4 Pro and XBO-X sell over the holidays, and whether Switch sales continue to be brisk into January and February, but missing out on a significant portion of their XMas sales with a new gaming device can't possibly be how Nintendo wanted to launch the Switch.