Nintendo ships 10.5M amiibo worldwide, still not sure how to fix supply problem

Nintendo shipped about 10.5 million amiibo since launching the little toys simultaneously with Super Smash Bros for Wii U in November, 5.7 million of which shipped by the end of 2014, but that hasn't been enough to meet demand, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata announced during a presentation early this morning.

Unfortunately, while the company is trying to fix the demand issue, Iwata says they can't promise a resolution anytime soon.

"Our consumers have been inconvenienced by stock shortages on some of the figures in our amiibo lineup," he said. "We have increased production for amiibo figures that have sold out very quickly after launch, that are indispensable to play a certain game and for which we have received strong demand from retailers and consumers.

"However, we are very sorry that we can't promise at what point we will likely be able to resolve the current situation because figures such as these require a considerable amount of time to produce, store shelf space is limited and it is difficult to precisely predict the exact amount of overall demand."

And the problem is likely only to get worse, with Iwata pointing out that the number of games compatible with the toys are increasing, as is the demand by customers who may not have been aware of the toys previously.

About 66 percent of all amiibo sales occur in the U.S. and Canada, according to the company.