Japanese financial newspaper Nikkei has reported that Nintendo has been forced to scale back production on the Switch due to a chip shortage.

According to the report, Nintendo will be producing 20% fewer Switch consoles than they had originally planned for the fiscal year ending in March 2022, about 24 million total out of the 30 million they had projected. This reduction was due to ongoing shortages of semiconductors and other electronic parts caused by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the increasing demand for the Switch, other game consoles, and other products which need theses components.

The report goes on to state that Nintendo has already informed their suppliers about the production cuts, with a spokesperson stating Nintendo is also assessing the impact of the component shortage on production. Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa also shared that although demand for the Switch is still high, they were “unable to manufacture as many console units as it had wanted” and “uncertainty” remains over production.

Of course, until Nintendo’s next financial results briefing, we will probably not know the full extent of the chip shortage’s effect on the Switch’s performance. We will be sure to report back with more details as they come.

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