Source: Nintendo / Nintendo Switch (OLED model)
The Nintendo Switch has been a surprise hit amongst gamers in the age of Playstation and Xbox. But it looks like sales of the popular gaming system will suffer due to the global chip shortage plaguing the world.
The Verge is reporting that due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, computer chip shortages are affecting Nintendo’s sales as they’ve only moved 3.83 million Switch units between July and September—compared to 6.86 million in the same time last year. Altogether 92.87 million units have been sold to date. Sounds like a good amount of sales, but had the pandemic not slowed things down, Nintendo could’ve eclipsed 100 million units moved by now with the system’s growing popularity and the scarcity of both the Playstation 5 and new Xbox systems.
“Nintendo says “the extended impact of both COVID-19 and the global semiconductor shortage creates a state of continued uncertainty” and is revising its Switch sales forecast for the financial year down by 1.5 million units. The company had previously expected to sell 25.5 million consoles between April 2021 and March 2022, but has now set the figure at 24 million. However, Nintendo isn’t altering its expectations for revenue, and actually expects operating profit to be 4 percent higher than previously predicted. The modified forecast takes into account revisions in exchange rates as well as higher projected software sales.”
Keep in mind that the popular Nintendo Wii sold 101.63 million systems in it’s lifetime, so the Switch will more than likely run past that sale mark sometime in the near future. Still the Switch has a ways to go before reaching the sales marks of the classic Gameboy (118.69 units sold) and Nintendo DS (154.02 units sold).
Should Nintendo develop a new Super Mario game or something to get fans excited about owning a Switch, you can expect demand to skyrocket amongst gamers. It’s only a matter if the supply will meet that demand and it’s looking like that won’t be the case for quite some time.
