Nintendo is reportedly cutting back production of the Switch 2 following weak holiday sales, “particularly in the US.”
According to Bloomberg, sources say the platform holder plans to produce four million units this quarter, down from the six million planned. This lower production volume is expected to continue in April.
Console sales reportedly fell short of Nintendo’s expectations. The lower-priced domestic variant performed well, but US sales declined.
As a result, share prices fell as much as 6.3%, dropping to ¥8,835 ($55.72) per share. Earlier this month, Nintendo’s share price rose 10.5% after the launch of Pokémon Pokopia.
Sources said that, despite the decision to produce fewer Switch 2 units, Nintendo “remains confident in the console’s long-term prospects.” They also clarified that rising prices and shortages of memory chips did not factor into this decision.
Nintendo did not respond to Bloomberg’s request for comment.
When the Switch 2 launched last June it broke US launch records, selling over 1.1 million units. By November, the console had achieved the highest global sales of any Nintendo platform, with 10.36 million units sold.
Following Nintendo’s financial results last month, the firm’s president Shuntaro Furukawa noted that hardware sales in Japan outpaced the rest of the market.
Furukawa said the console trended “better than expectations” following holiday sales of the lower-priced console, Pokémon Legends: Z-A and Kirby Air Riders.
Yesterday, reports suggested Nintendo plans to release a revised Switch 2 model in the EU with a replaceable battery.
This move would comply with 2023 EU legislation requiring all portable consoles to have replaceable batteries by 2027.
