Wall Street Journal: Nintendo to double Switch production

Nintendo has decided to at least double the production of its March 3-launched Switch hardware in the fiscal year ending March 2018, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing “people briefed on the plans.”

That means that in the coming fiscal year, which starts in April 2017, manufacturers under contract with Nintendo are now planning to produce 16 million or more Switches, up from the initial plan for eight million. This suggests Nintendo believes it can sell significantly more than 10 million units during the 12-month period.

The decision is said to be a result of popular demand for the system. The production pace of Switch’s first year of release is said to be in line with Wii, which launched in November 2006 and sold 20 million units by the end of 2007, and ended up selling over 100 million units in its lifetime.

Nintendo chief executive Tatsumi Kimishima has said the company would ship two million Switch units globally each month, but “one person familiar with production” told the Wall Street Journal that 2.5 million is more likely.

Nintendo will discuss Switch’s March sales and the outlook for the coming year when it reports on its latest fiscal year earnings on April 27.

A Nintendo spokesperson declined to comment to the Wall Street Journal.