The Nintendo Switch might not meet its upcoming production targets. According to its president, this comes as the global semiconductor shortage worsens.
According to information from Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa, the global chip and semiconductor shortage is weighing down production. With that said, the Nintendo Switch will likely miss its production target.
Nintendo underscored record year
The Switch got a record year last year, selling as many as 85 million units for the last fiscal year. Due to these crazy sales numbers, Nintendo received its best performing year in its entire lifetime.
To put these numbers into perspective, the Switch sold as many as 4.72 million units in three months. Nintendo also posted a growth of 81.8% year over year, the highest for the Japanese company.
In a recent Nikkei publication of their latest results, Furukawa admitted that there’s a potential problem. Namely, the company expects a drop in their production due to the impending semiconductor shortage.
“Due to the global shortage of semiconductor materials, we are not able to produce all the products we want to,” said Furukawa, as translated by VGC. “We are doing everything we can, but there is an increasing sense of uncertainty about production plans.
“Our earnings forecast is based on the assumption that we will be able to secure parts and materials, and if the situation changes, we would like to respond by revising it.”
Silicon shortage affects everyone
The semiconductor and silicon shortage is creating problems for entire industries. It’s not only the Nintendo Switch who’s affected, but also other consoles. Microsoft Xbox, for example, expects a shortage that will last until the latter half of 2021.
There’s also the US embargo on Chinese electronics, which makes electronics company go into stockpiling mode. Together with the pandemic, some companies forecast a shortage until 2023.
Furukawa also discussed why their projections for this year are lower than last year’s. The Nintendo president noted the existence of Animal Crossing: New Horizons last year. Animal Crossing generated as much as 20+ million unit sales.
“We need to take into account the impact of the explosive success of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which drove hardware sales in the previous fiscal year,” he said. “However, the forecast of 25.5 million units at the beginning of the fiscal year is a very high figure compared to the past.”
The Nintendo Switch is looking to stay strong for the years to come. Its next iteration, dubbed by gamers as the “Switch Pro”, is garnering great expectations from fans.
Featured image courtesy of Nintendo Switch/Youtube Screenshot