Nintendo Switch became the fastest-selling system in the Nintendo’s history, with 2.74 million consoles having been sold worldwide in March.
In attempting to alleviate stock shortages as best that they could with demand always particularly high around launch, The Wall Street Journal reports that Nintendo chose to ship consoles by aircraft.
This is seen as a costly logistics measure in comparison to shipping the hardware by sea, which Nintendo reverted to last month.
“We carried some of the Switches by plane in March to serve our customers more promptly,” a Nintendo spokesman confirmed, adding that they had changed to sea freight in April.
It is unclear where the stock had been flown to, but those that had been briefed were told that flights had carried Nintendo Switch to the United States and Europe from the factories where the console is being manufactured in China.
Ace Research Institute analyst Hideki Yasuda explained that shipping by air was “a big profit-squeezer,” costing 5,000 yen (£35) per console.
That sacrifice will be worthwhile, however, with Nintendo now looking to maintain momentum behind the console with key game releases such as Minecraft Nintendo Switch Edition, ARMS and Splatoon 2.
