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The global computer chip shortage has had a big impact on millions of people around the world and impacted many industries. It's had a major effect on the production of automobiles, smartphones, even white goods such as microwaves and refridgerators. It's also affected computers obviously, and, of course, consoles.
Those who have been trying to buy a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X know this acutely. The new generation consoles have been in high demand but low supply for some time, with stock getting snapped up as soon as they come in it seems. And Nintendo hasn't gone unaffected by the chip shortage.
Despite high demand, Nintendo has been forced to make fewer Switch consoles than it wants. First reported by Asia-focused publication, Nikkei, it appears the Japanese company won't be manufacturing as many of its popular portable console as originally planned.
Nintendo will produce only about 24 million units of the Switch from its fiscal year through to next March. This is a decrease of 20 percent since Nintendo had originally planned to produce 30 million of its consoles for the period.
Nintendo's plans were scuppered since it has had trouble securing enough semiconductors and other electronic parts. It will be disappointing for the Kyoto-based company since there is still strong demand for the Switch, especially as a new OLED model came out in October.
Nintendo had planned on producing a record 30 million Switch units to satisfy the strong demand as people around the world continue to snap up game consoles to keep them entertained during the pandemic.
Nintendo's president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company had to produce fewer console units than it had wanted and that uncertainy over production remains, Nikkei reported. The OLED model has been popular since it went on sale and some retailers have had to limit sales of the system, especially in Japan.
With Nintendo Switches going to be 20 percent fewer in the wild than they were going to be, this might make it harder for Switch fans to get a hold of one, especially as the holiday season is approaching fast.