Nintendo will beef up Switch production to meet continued demand
Nintendo will beef up Switch production to meet continued demand
The little Switch that could continues to defy expectation
➡️ The Shortcut Skinny: An ascendant Switch?
📈 Nintendo Switch sales expected to pass 19 million for the ‘21-’22 fiscal year
👀 Nintendo sees room to grow, expects to increase output for the next year
🎊 If sales hold or increase, the Switch could reach DS or PS2 sales numbers
🤔 Skeptics believe consumers will hold off on buying new Switches
⚔️ However, a new Zelda game could still drive massive console sales
Despite a now-6-year lifespan, underpowered hardware and sticky, ongoing issues with analog stick drift, the Nintendo Switch will see increased production output this year to meet hardy demand, says Bloomberg, citing unnamed sources.
The company reportedly will have shipped 21 million consoles by March, while it expects to sell about 19 million units for the fiscal year.
The move, if true, signals continued confidence from the big N, which has allegedly told suppliers it plans to increase output starting sometime after April (no specific timeframe was given beyond that). Nintendo said last year the Switch was in the middle of its lifecycle, indicating it expected the Switch to outlast the seeming 6-year life span of past Nintendo home consoles.
Not everyone is convinced. Despite rumors that the Switch Pro is canceled, the Bloomberg story quotes analyst Kenji Fukuyama as saying a slowdown is inevitable as consumers start to look forward to the next console from the company.
That said, the Switch was the best-selling console in the last week of December, moving over 920,000 units globally in that week alone, pushing it past the 120 million mark in terms of systems sold. With continued momentum, it could approach the 150 million units sold mark, putting it in leagues with the Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2, the top two all-time sellers at 154 million and 157 million, respectively.
2023 is expected to see the release of a The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2, which is all but guaranteed to produce a console sales boost on its own, but no other big first party titles are on the docket for the year – today’s Fire Emblem release and the forthcoming Kirby’s Return to Dreamland aren’t likely to drive much console demand, even if they could be some of the best Nintendo Switch games.
Still, beating last year’s sales would put the Switch in an auspicious place with some of the other best-selling consoles of all time, and it wouldn’t take much the following year to put it over the top, unless sales fall off a cliff, which is entirely possible.
I’m all for it if it means we continue to get cool new gear like the forthcoming Nyxi Gamecube-style controller to consider for our list of best Nintendo Switch accessories, though I certainly wouldn’t mind a Switch Pro, either. RIP.