Japanese preorders for the Animal Crossing edition of the Nintendo Switch were due to open on Feb. 8. Nintendo has now pushed them back to a date it hasn’t set.
The company said on Thursday that the coronavirus outbreak in China had delayed Switch production. A Reuters report described the delays to production and shipping of the console and accessories such as the Joy-Con controllers as “unavoidable.” Nintendo expects trouble for the Switch generally, for the Joy-Con and for the Ring Fit Adventure game, which was already hard to find in some countries.
The warning applied to the Japanese market. The Animal Crossing: New Horizons Switch was supposed to go on sale March 13, a week ahead of the game itself. Nintendo did not immediately answer questions about US or European shipments.
CEO Shuntaro Furukawa had said the week before that production in China was being hit. Nintendo started moving part of its manufacturing to Vietnam in 2019, after the US-China trade war disrupted supply chains. It doesn’t have enough capacity there to make up for the loss.
The virus was spreading fast. By Thursday more than 28,000 cases had been confirmed worldwide and 565 people had died, most of them in China. Japan had 45 cases and the US had 12, with no deaths in either country. Apple and Google were among the tech companies that had closed offices, limited business travel and run into supply chain problems.
Sources
- Nintendo confirms coronavirus has delayed Switch production – CNET
- Nintendo says delays to Switch production, shipping due to coronavirus 'unavoidable'
Sources
- Nintendo confirms coronavirus has delayed Switch… – CNET
- Nintendo says delays to Switch production, shipping due to…
