Posted in: Games, Nintendo, Video Games | Tagged: apple, nintendo, nintendo switch

Nintendo vs. Apple: The Battle For Spare Parts

Published Wed, 31 May 2017 20:45:01 -0500

That headline may sound funny, but it's no laughing matter as Apple and Nintendo are currently at odds with each other on the production side of things. After the Switch became a hit, Nintendo has shifted focus to ramp up production and create more units to ship out. Unfortunately, some of the parts they need are also used by Apple for their iPhones, and according to a few different sources online (WSJ and Game Rant), there's just not enough to go around.

The crux of the matter is that Apple and other companies that make mobile devices are better positioned to make better deals with manufacturers when it comes to getting their money's worth. That's a battle for needed parts that Nintendo just can't win, so rather than being able to skip to the front of the line because they have the new hotness on the market, they're stuck in line with everyone else. It's not like Nintendo hasn't faced this hurdle before when it came to producing the 3DS and the Wii U, but back then there wasn't as high a demand for either system like there is now for the Switch, which puts the company in a weird spot as they try to supply that demand.

While it may not be a great concern at the moment, it's going to become one very quickly once the Splatoon version is released, and will only continue to grow as we slowly march toward the holiday season. Nintendo has already made fans irate over the cancellation of the NES Classic Edition, which people were waiting to give Nintendo money hand over fist for. What will happen come fall if Nintendo clearly won't have enough to appease everyone who said to themselves "I'll just wait until December" back in March?

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