Nintendo Missing the Boat with Supply Shortage

Most Nintendo fans have been swept up in the heat of Amiibo hunting and getting their hands on the New 3DS. People have been caught up in going to different stores and trying to time it right in their quest for Amiibo or a New 3DS system. Nine times out of ten, Amiibo hunting has turned up nothing and the same can be said for the New 3DS but the question becomes why has the supply of Nintendo products been such a low amount as of late?

It would appear that Nintendo is having a tough time getting their supply to the masses in the states and it could be because of a port strike on the west coast. This strike is effecting imported goods from Asia. The fastest way from China, where Nintendo systems, Amiibo and other items are made, is through the West coast. Of course the situation would reach a head when the New 3DS was releasing to the United States. It looks like the situation had to do with port workers getting their pay in full and the Pacific Maritime Association didn’t want to pay holiday rates. Just like every other strike in history, work is halted when you don’t get paid!

This would actually explain why some Amiibo have been really hard to come by in stores. It would also explain why some stores, like GameStop, had to cancel New 3DS preorders at the last minute. I’m sure that some of those with cancelled preorders were able to preorder the Majora’s Mask 3DS in the 10 or so minutes it was available for preorder. It will be interesting to see when this “strike” is over, if Nintendo still has trouble getting their supply to the masses. If they don’t, then the port strike was to blame. If they do, then as Ricky Ricardo of I Love Lucy would say, “Nintendo, you got some splainin to do!”