The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Nintendo will ramp up production of its Switch consoles, picking up the pace to manufacture between 25 and 30 million units for the 2018 fiscal year. The company will adapt depending on their numbers this holiday season.
The hybrid console has blown away everyone’s expectations, and its limited yet steady stream of games has helped keep it out of store shelves since its launch last March. Nintendo has enjoyed riding this wave of success, but now it needs to tend to consumers as well if it wants to replicate the Wii hit.
Super Mario Odyssey, the most recent title for the new home console, has cemented its superstar status among current-gen video game systems. The Nintendo Switch’s success, though, leaves an uncertain future for the handheld lineup of the iconic Japanese powerhouse.
Nintendo’s move to increase production shows rising confidence in the success of the Switch consolehttps://t.co/Kosp44KkjB
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) November 10, 2017
Holiday sales will tell Nintendo how many consoles to make
Internal sources at Nintendo told the Journal that the firm will monitor holiday sales and react accordingly. Preemptively, though, they estimate 25 million additional consoles will need to be made to satisfy demand prompted by the holiday sale surge.
Up to 30 million units could be made, according to company calculations. Of course, this is in addition to the production ramp-up that already started in anticipation of the holiday season.
Nintendo product heads expect the Switch to sell as well as to top the lifetime numbers of its predecessor, the Wii U. Throughout its run, it sold 13.56 million units. The GameCube and the N64 saw more popularity during their prime, with 22 and 33 million consoles sold respectively.
However, the endgame for the Japanese giant is to get as close as possible to the massive success of the Nintendo Wii. During the years it was the company’s staple console, it managed to sell more than 100 million units.
Games will be essential to keep the Switch a hit
Of course, this holiday season the Switch will enjoy a huge sales-boost thanks to the recently released Super Mario Odyssey. Further down the line, though, Nintendo needs to maintain a nice and steady launch schedule that will keep existing owners engaged and attracts new players.
With this in mind, there are a couple of cards Nintendo can play. Metroid Prime 4 is among the expected ones, as is a new core RPG Pokémon title. Both are scheduled for next year at the earliest, and that is without tapping into the cross-franchise potential the Switch has to become even more coveted.
Super Smash Bros. promises to be a phenomenon on the Switch and, if the 3DS has truly reached the end of its run, the console could act as a unifier of sorts where we see handheld titles coming to the big screen for the first time.
Source: The Wall Street Journal
