The Nintendo Switch has been on the market for almost two months now, but is still selling out in hours, not days, with many fans of the Big N still finding it difficult to get their hands on a console. Now, it's been discovered that Nintendo has been paying extra to ship Switch units by plane from China in an attempt to meet the high demand.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Nintendo used aircraft to move units directly from China to the U.S. and Europe throughout the month of March. While Nintendo reportedly moved back to a more common freight system in April, researchers are estimating that the Big N ate up to $45 per unit when shipping the Switch by plane.

Given that Nintendo has been taking some heat in the press for its inability to keep the Switch in stock, not to mention canceling the NES Classic at the height of its popularity, it's at least a little bit reassuring to see that Nintendo does appear to be pulling out all the stops with the units it has available.

With Nintendo selling 2.74 million Switch consoles since launch, there's no question that the system is off to a fast start. But if the Switch is going to catch up with the PlayStation 4's 60 million units, Nintendo is obviously going to have to continue being aggressive when it comes to its supply chain.

In the meantime, first-party games like the recently released Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and upcoming competitive titles Splatoon 2 and ARMS should only serve to keep fan interest high. Its clearly early days here, but if Nintendo continues to do everything it can to placate the public's demand, perhaps we'll see another Wii-like success story in the Big N's future.

Source: Wall Street Journal