Much like every other product in the world right now, the highly-popular Nintendo Switch has been dealing with ongoing supply chain issues for quite some time now. A recent report from Japanese publication Nikkei has stated that the Switch, alongside Sony’s PlayStation 5, has seen a considerable slump in hardware sales.
Of course, this has nothing to do with interest in either device waning. Quite the contrary, both systems are extremely sought after. Therein lies the problem; demand continues to very much outpace supply.
Nikkei reports that Nintendo’s hybrid has sold 33% less during the April-June quarter compared to its performance at the same time back in 2021. This decline is even worse than the PS5, which saw a 26% drop.
Nintendo told Nikkei that this is all due to a “shortage of chip materials”. As has been the case throughout the entire tech world, Nintendo is having a hard time getting the components that it needs in order to produce everything that goes into each Switch system. Of course, if even one component is hard to come by, this would have a negative impact on the scale of production. So, imagine the current situation where it’s likely a variety of components that aren’t being produced fast enough.
Despite the ongoing production issues, both the Switch and the PS5 have still been doing rather well in both Japan and worldwide. The Switch, in particular, has amassed over 100 million sales globally since its initial launch in 2017. This has made it second best-selling system of all time, even beating the phenomenon that was the Nintendo Wii. The company is showing no signs of slowing down support for the hybrid, indicting that we may very well be rocking with the Switch for several more years.
As long as production issues stabilize soon, the Switch seems poised to continue holding its own against the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.
