Nintendo to make 20 percent fewer switches due to chip shortage: Report

The global chip shortage is affecting all areas of technology, and their grip on electronics does not appear to be diminishing anytime soon. Nintendo is just one of the brands that continue to suffer due to shortages, as a report from Nikkei Asia reveals that Nintendo is further reducing the number of switches it produces and falls short of original projections by 20 percent.

While Nintendo insists the chip shortage didn't cause the OLED Switch to miss out on 4K video support, the restriction could prevent the company from meeting its updated projection. Nikkei Asia reports that instead of producing the 30 million switches it initially planned, Nintendo will only ship 24 million units by the end of March, which is less than the 25.5 million it gave to investors in May. In a brief statement, a Nintendo spokesperson told Nikkei Asia that they are aware of the semiconductor shortage and are evaluating the "impact" on their production.

As Nikkei Asia notes, the Switch has seen a 37 percent decline in sales this September compared to the same period last year. Demand for the Switch increased rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic as people looked for ways to keep busy while staying at home. The Switch took the place as the best-selling console in the US from 2019 to early 2021, only to be surpassed by the PS5, which sold fewer units than the Switch but made more money.

It also doesn't help that Nintendo just released the Switch OLED model in October, a slightly improved version of the Switch that comes with a better screen and more storage. A newer model generally means more demand, something Nintendo probably should have considered before launching the OLED Switch during a chip shortage.

Resellers have already bought and tried to resell Switch OLED pre-orders at outrageously high prices, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they took aim at what's left of Switch stock in the coming months. After all, resellers have already profited from the chip shortage, digging their greedy claws into the Xbox One X and PlayStation 5 - the OLED Switch could be your next feast.