Games
End of the chip crisis: Nintendo is to increase switch production in 2023
Nintendo plans to ramp up production of the Nintendo Switch this year. Bloomberg reports in a recent article, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Due to the chip crisis, Nintendo lowered its sales forecast for the console to 19 million in November. Now the company is determined to produce more consoles as demand is still strong. Bloomberg rates this move as unexpected since the console is already late in the typical life cycle.
Nintendo is said to have already informed its suppliers and assembly companies of its intentions. It is planned to produce more consoles at the beginning of the new financial year in April. However, there is no specific target amount. Therefore, it could be that Nintendo could withdraw its plans if the demand is lower than expected.
Nintendo’s plans go against the general view of analysts, who expect sales to fall. The article assumes that Nintendo expects demand to continue for at least a year. According to Nintendo executives, the Nintendo Switch has been hampered by supply issues rather than falling demand. However, Nintendo made no official comment to Bloomberg.
UBS Securities analyst Kenji Fukuyama, who is the subject of the article, takes a critical view of this move: “Sales last Christmas were not as strong as expected, despite improved supply.” He adds that “[die] People will soon start speculating about the next-gen hardware and will probably refrain from buying the old system.” He concludes that a decline in Switch sales is inevitable.
However, the article also presents the opposite opinion, that Nintendo could boost Switch sales in the coming fiscal year with special editions of upcoming games. A switch with The Legend of Zelda desEsports Extrascould entice existing console owners to buy another console, according to Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda.
There has long been speculation about a successor to the Nintendo Switch. However, speculation is likely to increase significantly again this year. To what extent this will affect demand and sales figures is difficult to estimate. But it is also clear that games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have the potential to boost sales of the Nintendo Switch.
Alexander S
Alexander has been with Nintendo-Online since 2009 and occasionally lends a hand with PS-NOW. He grew up with Game Boy and has been an avid console gamer ever since.
