Reports last week stated that Nintendo had to reduce its Nintendo Switch production plans due to supply constraints. Nintendo had originally planned to produce 30 million units by the end of the current financial year. Due to the supply chain issues, the company has revised that down to 24 million units.
Nintendo has now commented on the supply issues. Senior executive office at Nintendo, Ko Shiota, stated that the company’s engineers are now reviewing the Nintendo Switch’s hardware design. This is in an effort to try and source alternative components for the console that can be more easily procured. That would then hopefully ease the supply constraints that the company has been struggling with. It’s common for console manufacturers to adjust the design, both internally and externally, of their consoles in order to make manufacturing cheaper and/or easier. Sony did just that with the PS5 earlier this year. The company slightly modified the heatsink which reduced the weight of the console by around 300 grams. This type of adjustment doesn’t make much difference to gamers but it can save the company millions in shipping costs.
Nintendo will likely be looking into making the same kind of minor internal adjustments on the Nintendo Switch. It’s unlikely that an external redesign will materialize but if the engineers in Kyoto can find ways to ease the supply constraint, they will likely be open to anything.
Nintendo is coming up on 100 million Switch consoles sold. If the company can figure out the supply constraints, the Switch is well on the way to becoming Nintendo’s best-selling home console ever. During a recent financial briefing, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said that the Switch is only at the mid-point in its life cycle. If that’s really the case, the Nintendo Switch could be gunning for a top 3 spot in the list of best-selling consoles of all time. Assuming the supply is there.