Shuntaro Furukawa has made an interesting statement in regards to Nintendo’s recent manufacturing moves.
In the past year, dataminers have been tracking down shipping information from one of Nintendo’s manufacturing partners, Hosiden. Hosiden’s information is definitely real and not unverified rumor, but they share their data months late, and it’s often not enough to form a complete picture on what the company is doing for Nintendo.
Nonetheless, Nintendo dataminers have tried their best to triangulate when the company has started collecting materials, and actually manufactured, the Switch 2. As best as we can trace it, these dataminers traced mass manufacture of the console on November 2024. But because dataminers got this information months late, as Hosiden planned, manufacturing would have actually started a few months earlier.
That takes us to today, as Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa seems to have confirmed this claim. He addressed this question in the Q&A for the company’s latest earnings call:
“In the third quarter of each year, shipments are made in preparation for the holiday season, so inventory tends to decrease compared to the end of the second quarter. However, inventory at the end of this third quarter (end of December 2024) increased compared to the end of the second quarter (end of September 2024).
I would like to know the reason for this increase in inventory. Is it because inventory related to Nintendo Switch is accumulating due to slower sales during the holiday season, or is inventory increasing because you are preparing to ship out Nintendo Switch 2?
If the increase is due to Nintendo Switch 2 related inventory, what would be an approximate maximum number of Nintendo Switch 2 units shipped in the first fiscal year?”
And this was Furukawa’s answer:
“We are unable to provide detailed information on the breakdown of inventory, but as of the end of this third quarter, inventory has increased primarily due to preparations for the launch of Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025. The current Nintendo Switch related inventory has decreased since the end of the previous fiscal year (end of March 2024) and is at an appropriate level. We are not holding excess inventory.”
Of course, at this point, Nintendo would be more willing to talk about the Switch 2, even if they really aren’t willing to divulge everything. With the console officially announced and its launch imminent, it was finally possible, and maybe even smart, to confirm that they’ve started making the console in large numbers.
This may not have been Furukawa’s intention, but after all this time, one of those Switch 2 ‘rumors’ has also been officially confirmed. We’re looking forward to these dataminers tracking down that manufacturing further, as we all get ready for the Switch 2’s launch.
