The increasingly rare Nintendo Switch is currently available for pre-order over at Walmart. According to the retail giant's official website, the Nintendo Switch is available for pre-order in bundles.
Most buyers are forced to take the bundle thinking there is no other way. However, as Twitter user Wario64 pointed out, there is one way Nintendo Switch hunters can buy the console alone from Walmart. All you need to do is install the Walmart app if you haven't yet and click on the option that says "Don't want the bundle". If you do things right, you'll find the Nintendo Switch in your cart. According to Polygon, you need to do the process through the Walmart app. If you don't, the page will just go back to the bundle.
Much has been said about Nintendo's propensity to not meet the demands for its quality products. It happened very recently with the NES Classic Edition and it's happening once more with the Nintendo Switch. The mini NES Classic was a huge hit when it hit stores during last year's holiday season and Nintendo admittedly miscalculated on the retro console's demand. The same controversy seems to be gradually enveloping the Switch as the stock has been noticeably not enough even during the pre-ordering period before the initial release.
To keep up with the high demand, Nintendo reportedly shipped their finished Switch consoles in March via air instead of the usual method of shipping via sea freight. The company seems to have prioritized meeting its deliveries over shipping expenses as transporting goods by air is much more expensive than by sea. As Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda pointed out, shipping via air is $45 more expensive.
Wall Street Journal reported that despite the faster shipping process, Nintendo still failed to meet the demand and thus, returned to shipping by sea the following month. The situation is fast brewing to be another instance of miscalculating demands. Nintendo announced before that it will have 2 million units on hand during its release. The company went over that figure as an estimated 2.74 million were shipped at the time. This despite concerns of desyncing, warping, the lack of a virtual console and other issues. Right now, Nintendo is planning to produce 10 million Switch consoles for its first fiscal year. Even with a staggering figure like that, some analysts believe that it is still not enough to meet the demands for the Nintendo Switch. In fact, it can go up to 14.5 million according to David Gibson of Macquarie Capital Securities.
