Nintendo eyes another increase in Switch production

Nintendo Co. increased its production target for Switch to 25 million units this fiscal as the ongoing pandemic keeps boosting demand while component shortages ease.

The Kyoto-based company, which previously hiked orders to 22 million units by March next year, asked assembly partners to add the extra million units.

The assembly partners intend to maximize production capacity through December.

Nintendo forecasts its Switch sales at 19 million units for the current fiscal year.

Plans could still change if demand begins to taper in the coming months, but production partners expect to surpass the 22 million units previously instructed to assemble.

Nintendo's assembly partners, who initially prioritized handset contracts from major smartphone manufacturers, found themselves with more capacity as orders plummeted due to the economic downturn and the roiling US-China conflict.

The company has been boosting Switch production since the start of this year, even before its hit game Animal Crossing: New Horizons became the breakout success of the novel coronavirus era.

Nintendo's hit game Animal Crossing fueled global Switch sales, resulting in a fivefold leap in operating profit to US$1.4 billion in the quarter ended in June.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which sold nearly 12 million copies in its first 11 days in March, sold another 10.6 million units in the second quarter.

It is close to becoming the best-selling Switch title ever.

Nintendo noted that over half of new Switch owners over the last quarter played Animal Crossing first.