Nintendo increasing Switch production to meet holiday demand

Nintendo is to increase Switch production in order to meet rising consumer demand as it approaches the holiday season, the platform holder has announced.

"[Switch] continues to be sold out practically worldwide," Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima told investors during its financial results briefing presentationtoday. "Our initial plan was to ship two million units by the end of March. But as we announced yesterday, we have already shipped 2.74m units through the end of March.

"Overall, sell-through of Nintendo Switch stacks up well, even in comparison to hardware that launched during holiday seasons. Given the timing of its launch and the rate at which the market is buying it up, Nintendo Switch is definitely off to a solid start.

"To take advantage of Nintendo Switch’s momentum, we will be bolstering our manufacturing and improving our supply situation going into the holiday season."

Based on NPD’s recent figures for the US market, Kimishima also confirmed that Switch has had the best launch month for hardware sales in the company’s history.

Perhaps more interesting, however, is the type of consumer buying the Switch. Based on an online survey that was given to US consumers who had linked a Nintendo Account to their Switch after launch, it seems that most purchases were made by men in their 20s and early 30s. The 10-19 year-old age group also showed "good interest" in the console.

The Legend of Zelda has also managed to penetrate the wider public consciousness, achieving an attach rate that is "more or less unprecedented," said Kimishima, and "may lead to a new sell-through record for the entire The Legend of Zelda series."

He adds: "By listening to what players are saying and looking at the circumstances surrounding their actual play, we are finding that a growing number of consumers who do not usually play dedicated video game systems are purchasing Nintendo Switch to play this title or are taking an interest in doing so. By leveraging this opportunity, we sincerely hope to be able to reach consumers who have never played a game in The Legend of Zelda series before."

There’s good news for the UK-based developers SFB Games, too, as their debut Switch title Snipperclips has been downloaded over 350,000 times worldwide.

Meanwhile, Super Bomberman R has shipped over 500,000 units worldwide, and 1-2-Switch is on track to top 1m sales.