Switch production is set to double this year.
Nintendo has been infamous for failing to sufficiently stock their popular products, such as the NES Classic and, most recently, the Switch. It looks like the video game company is learning from their mistakes and upping production on the latter console.
The Nintendo Switch enjoyed a successful launch this month with over 1.5 million units sold in the first two weeks. However, many customers who went to purchase a Switch on launch weekend walked away empty-handed due to low stock.
I, myself, went to a midnight launch at a local Wal-Mart (yeah, it was a whole thing), where seventeen Switch consoles were available for people who didn’t pre-order. The GameStop around the corner only had four Switches to their name, and that trend seemed pretty common across the U.S.
The pre-orders themselves were gone in the blink of an eye at all retailers earlier this year, so no one was too surprised when launch day stock was inadequate.
While Nintendo was planning to manufacture 8 million Switches for the upcoming fiscal year beginning this April, The Wall Street Journal reports they’re going to double those numbers after high demand. That’s right, 16 million Switches should be shipping out to retailers over the next year.
Nintendo appears confident that the consoles popularity will remain strong in the coming months, and shareholders are sharing that optimism. After the news broke earlier today about the production increase, Nintendo’s stock rose 1.69%.
“Nintendo has seen strong demand for the Switch at launch with record-breaking sales for the company in both the U.S. and Europe,” Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad told GamesBeat. “This has given Nintendo the confidence to increase production of Switch for the upcoming fiscal year. If Nintendo is able to produce and sell the amount claimed then this would be a complete turnaround from the Wii U and would position the Switch as a serious competitor to PS4 and put annual sales of the console on a similar trajectory to the Wii.”
Additionally, the video game company recently announced they will be putting over 2 million Switches into the global retail market by the end of the fiscal year, March 31st.
If sales match the production rate, the Switch really will be on track to rival the success of the Wii, which sold over 101 million units total, with 20 million sold its first year. At the very least, the Switch will out-sell the disappointing Wii U, which sold only 13.5 million units since its 2012 launch.
“The record breaking launch, the strong attach rate of Zelda, and the forecasted increase in production is exactly what investors have been looking to hear,” said Ahmad. “It suggests that Nintendo is seeing strong demand for Switch, not just from Wii U owners, and that it is confident in the software lineup for the rest of the year.”
If you’re wanting a Switch–and fast–it looks like GameStop will have some in stock “as early as Wednesday, March 22nd,” the company said in a news release. They recommend that you call your local GameStops for availability information.
Stay tuned to A 90s Kid to keep updated on the latest Switch news.
