Nintendo expects 10% less Switches in its fiscal 2022 due to supply chain issues

Throughout the pandemic, Nintendo has perhaps remains strongest in its production among the big three console manufacturers in gaming. The Switch didn’t face too much slowdown in 2021 and, in fact, continued to push towards record sales. That might be changing in Nintendo’s fiscal 2022. While the company still plans on producing a lot of Switches in 2022, recent supply line issues have caused Nintendo to lower its overall forecast on Switch production by 10 percent for the year.

This adjustment in forecasted Switch production was reported recently by Nikkei Asia. According to Nikkei, semiconductor shortages and logistics issues such as shutdowns of factories in Shanghai, China due to upticks of COVID-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine have caused the company to face more issues in production than expected. With this in mind, Nintendo lowered its forecast for expected Switch unit production by 10 percent from its 2021 fiscal year. The company now only expects to sell 20 million Switches in its fiscal 2022, which is also about 30 percent down from its peak in fiscal 2020.

Nintendo has been affected by semiconductor shortages like everyone else, but further issues like factory shutdowns in Shanghai and the Russian/Ukrainian war have further exacerbated matters.

Despite lowering its forecast on Switch production and sales for its 2022 fiscal year, demand for the Nintendo Switch remains fairly high even six years after its release. The company has garnered enough supplies to continue to sell the Nintendo Switch where Sony and Xbox have struggled to keep PS5s and Xbox Series X/Ss on shelves. It finally passed the Wii in overall units sold with the help of large-scale first-party games like Metroid Dread and Mario Party Superstars.

With this in mind, and in light of production woes, Nintendo apparently intends to reprioritize software releases to fill the gap left by its lower Switch console sale forecast. Nintendo has Splatoon 3 and a new mainline Pokemon game on the way in 2022. The company is banking off these and other unannounced releases to keep the wheels greased this year. That said, it will remain to be seen if even Nintendo’s 20 million Switch forecast will remain sturdy. Stay tuned for more updates as we continue to follow this story.