Nintendo has decided to double production for the fiscal year ending March 2018.
According to a Wall Street Journal report, strong demand for the Switch has changed Nintendo’s original plans and suggests the hybrid console is on a similar track to the Nintendo Wii, the 2007 console that would go on to become the biggest selling console in the company’s history.
Starting April 2017, assemblers under contract with Nintendo plan to manufacture 16 million or more Switches, up from an initial plan for eight million, people briefed on the plans told the WSJ . This suggests Nintendo believes it can sell significantly more than 10 million units during the 12-month period, they said, beating expectations of many analysts.
Nintendo has yet to officially reveal any sales numbers for the Switch but reports state that the launch weekend for the Switch was bigger than the Wii and global numbers are estimated at 1.5 million units sold.
GameStop has also stated that the Nintendo Switch is one of the best launches in the retail outlet’s history.
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima said they’ll begin by shipping out two million Switches worldwide each month. However, according to the Journal, it’ll be more likely around 2.5 million units a month.
It seems Nintendo is preparing for the release of big first-party games like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe , Splatoon 2 and the holiday release of Mario Odyssey.
The Nintendo Switch is available now worldwide.
Are you excited that Nintendo is confident enough to double production on the Nintendo Switch? If you haven’t picked one up already, will you now? Let us know in the comments section below.
