Nintendo is eating costs to ship more Switch units by plane

$45 per unit estimation

While Nintendo was enjoying a surge in popularity with the Switch compared to their last console, they were eating a hefty amount of cost shipping it out to get it into the hands of its end users.

According to the Wall Street Journal, Nintendo used aircraft to directly distribute many Switch units from China, which were shipped to the US and Europe in March. Since then they’ve moved back to the more common freight system (starting in April), but according to researchers Nintendo ate a cost of roughly $45 per unit to meet demand with the plane shipments.

It’s always important to strike while the iron is hot, and for the Switch, it was pretty damn hot a few months ago. Now we get to see its growth, which is already bolstered by some heavy-hitting first party games and more third party support than in the past.

What I really want to know is when, or if, EA, Activision, and Ubisoft will pay attention to it. While some people are down on those publishers they make bank, and it could really help boost Nintendo up to Sony’s level — who is killing it with the PS4.

Nintendo Shipped Switch Consoles by Plane to Quickly Meet High Demand [WSJ]