An analyst has made some strong claims about Nintendo’s plans for the Switch 2.
Wario64 tweeted a short quote from a Bloomberg report with this information. We would note, the Bloomberg page has itself been updated, making Wario64’s quote the place where you can get that tidbit. We will share what Wario64 tweeted below:
“Robin Zhu, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein, said ahead of the announcement that Nintendo has prepared a supply chain network that will allow the company to sell more than 20 million units in its first year. That compares with the current Switch’s sale of around 15 million units in its first four quarters.”
While we don’t know where Zhu got his information, we have to assume there is some basis for this assessment as a professional financial analyst at one of the top firms in the US. It would fall in line with what Nintendo said their intentions where when it comes to preparing for the console launch.
For further context, Sony revealed that they sold 15 million units of the PlayStation 5 in its first year. It’s estimated that that number is a few million units higher than sales to the Xbox Series X|S in its first year. Microsoft, for their part, kept this and much of their business information hidden away from the public.
But both Sony and Microsoft had the misfortune of launching their consoles in the middle of the quarantine and lockdown period of the pandemic. The gaming business did well during that period, as millions were stuck in their homes and looked for hobbies.
On the flip side, supply, manufacturing, and distribution chains were disrupted across multiple industries. In particular, both Sony and Microsoft could not make as many consoles as they wanted because there were shortages of semiconductors.
Nintendo came out as a huge beneficiary in the Switch’s final years, as they already had stocks of the console in stores, even as they also were unable to make more. But now, Nintendo has an opportunity to avoid the pitfalls Sony and Microsoft had to get through.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Fukushima himself told investors that there was no semiconductor shortage to hurt the company’s ability to make Switch 2 consoles last May. We also reported on rumors of multiple Nintendo partners alerting their investors that business was about to pick up thanks to the Switch 2.
So we have plenty of reason to believe that Nintendo prepared to make more Switch 2 units than Sony and Microsoft were able to for their consoles last 2021. What remains truly uncertain is if Nintendo can generate the hype train necessary to sell those 20 million units, or more.
