Continued chip shortage will result in Nintendo manufacturing 20% fewer Switch consoles

Nintendo will be forced to produce 20% fewer Switch consoles during the current fiscal year due to the current chip shortage.

According to Nikkei, the company had originally planned to sell 25.5 million units for the fiscal year which ends on March 31, instead, but it will fall short of that, as it will only be able to produce 24 million units.

Nikkei states that Nintendo originally planned to produce 30 million Switch units, but the shortages of semiconductors and other electronic parts that emerged around springtime have caused Nintendo to revise its production targets due to the lack of supply.

A Nintendo spokesperson acknowledged the production issue which comes amid demand for Switch remaining strong. Demand for the standard version is high, but it seems many customers are also wanting the new Switch OLED, enough so that some Japanese retailers are having to ration sales by using a lottery system, according to the report.

Due to supply issues, Switch sales have fallen 37% to 214,000 units in September from a year ago in Japan, and sales have declined for three months running, per Famitsu.

Switch has sold 89 million units since releasing in 2017 and is quickly catching up with Nintendo Wii, the company's all-time best-selling home console, which boasts lifetime sales of 101.6 million units.