Due to the current chip shortage, Nintendo will be forced to reduce the production of Switch consoles by 20% this fiscal year.
According to Nikkei News, the company originally planned to sell 25.5 million units in the fiscal year ending on March 31, but ultimately failed because it could only produce 24 million units.
Nikkei reported that Nintendo initially planned to produce 30 million Switches, but the shortage of semiconductors and other electronic parts around the spring caused Nintendo to modify its production targets due to insufficient supply.
A Nintendo spokesperson acknowledged that because demand for the Switch is still strong, there are production problems. According to the report, the demand for the standard version is high, but it seems that many customers also want the new Switch OLED, which is enough to make some Japanese retailers have to use a lottery system to distribute sales.
According to Famitsu, due to supply problems, Switch sales in Japan in September fell 37% from the same period last year to 214,000 units, and sales fell for three consecutive months.
Since its release in 2017, the Switch has sold 89 million units and is quickly catching up with the Nintendo Wii, the best-selling home game console in the company’s history, with lifetime sales of 101.6 million units.
