Nintendo Shifts 196,000 NES Minis During November in the US

The NES Classic Edition is already a resounding success and shaping up to be one of the best-selling products this Christmas. Unfortunately, the extremely high demand and short supply have forced consumers to use scalpers to acquire the console in time for the holiday period. It’s not uncommon for eBay sellers to charge at least £100 and even major stores like Maplin and CEX have employed a similar strategy. Despite reassurances from retailers, it seems the NES Classic Edition won’t be restocked until 2017. According to a November report by NPD Group, Nintendo shifted 196,000 consoles in the USA throughout November. NPD analyst Sam Naji said:

“In its debut month, the NES Classic Edition sold 196,000 units, leading the retro console segment”

This is even more impressive when you consider the NES Classic Edition sold out on November 11th and sales could have easily exceeded 300,000. The figures in Europe haven’t been disclosed but I’m expecting pretty decent numbers despite the console being officially sold out from all leading retailers including Amazon, GAME, Nintendo UK and others. Whether or not Nintendo intentionally limited the product’s supply for marketing purposes remains to be seen and it’s a complicated debate. However, anyone with common sense would have foreseen the NES Classic Edition’s popularity and prepared enough stock to cope with the Christmas rush. This raises questions about Nintendo’s ability to properly deal with the Switch pre-orders throughout the world. The current situation has helped scalpers to make good money while causing irritation for the end-user. Hopefully, Nintendo learns from this experience and ensures their manufacturing process is more efficient.

Have you managed to get hold of the NES Classic Edition?