Nintendo to ramp up Switch production by 20 per cent to handle demand
Nintendo is said to have asked its suppliers to increase production of its popular Switch console by a further 20 per cent, after global lockdown measures caused an unprecedented spike in demand.
The gaming giant has raised its production goal for the Switch to as much as 30m units for this fiscal year, people familiar with its strategy told Bloomberg today.
It had already increased orders to 25m units last month, but has since asked assemblers to begin operating factories at 120 per cent as it gears up for the Christmas season.
Nintendo has had an outstanding year after lockdown rules increased demand for the handheld-hybrid Switch, powered by the success of new game Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Profit after the game’s release jumped by more than five times as much as the previous quarter, with more than half of the new Switch devices sold in that time being first used to play the title.
Operating profit for the three months to the end of June — Nintendo’s first fiscal quarter of the year — was ¥144.7bn, more than double the average analyst estimate of ¥71bn.
Nintendo sold 5.7m Switch consoles in that quarter, indicating it expects a major boost in sales if it intends to produce 30m units before the end of the fiscal year.
Production problems at the beginning of the year caused by coronavirus-related disruption are now said to have been resolved.
Nintendo is rumoured to be preparing an updated version of the Switch and a host of new games for release in 2021, with leaks suggesting those games could be in 4K.
The company said yesterday that Hyrule Warriors, a prequel to one of its best-selling games Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, will be released on 20 November.
A Nintendo spokesperson could not be reached for comment.