TOKYO (BLOOMBERG) – Nintendo plans to produce about 24 million Switch consoles for the current fiscal year, about 20 per cent less than originally planned, the Nikkei reported.
While demand for the new console is strong, the Kyoto-based company has struggled to get enough semiconductors to make the machines, the newspaper said. The company had originally planned to make about 30 million consoles, a record high, it said.
The new Switch got off to a rocky start last month during its debut, suggesting supply constraints were hampering the company’s biggest product launch in years, Bloomberg News reported.
The US$350 (S$472) Oled edition sold 138,409 units in the domestic market over its launch weekend, sales tracker Famitsu said, compared with the original Switch’s inaugural weekend sales of 330,637 in 2017.
A company spokesman confirmed the chip shortage is affecting production. He declined to comment on the reported 24 million figure and said the company is assessing the magnitude of the impact now.
Nintendo said in May it was targeting sales of 25.5 million consoles in the year ending March 2022, having sold 28.8 million units in the prior period. Management had hoped to exceed that figure, Bloomberg News reported at the time.
The new model sports a more vibrant 7-inch Oled display along with a new flexible stand, more storage space and better speakers as well as an internet cable port.
Nintendo’s own flagship store in the Shibuya district of Tokyo implemented a lottery to determine who gets to buy the device.
Nintendo shares have dropped 24 per cent this year amid concerns over the new Switch.