Nintendo will make six million fewer Switch consoles than planned this year

Nintendo Switch production will fall 20% short of expected figures for this financial year.

According to Nikkei, the company will only be able to produce 24 million consoles before the end of the 2021/22 fiscal year in March, six million fewer than the 30 million that it originally planned to make. 

Nintendo originally planned to boost production to record levels in an attempt to match a surge in interest during the initial Covid lockdowns last year. Nikkei states, however, that "production bottlenecks quickly emerged [...] for key components including microcomputers," leading Nintendo to bring its targets down.

Earlier this year, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors that demand for new Switch consoles continued to exceed the supply of the semiconductors needed to make them. In May, the company's plans were still "uncertain," but now it seems as though it's had to commit to reduced stock. Nintendo confirmed to Nikkei that the parts shortage was responsible for the lack of consoles.

The semiconductor shortage hasn't only affected Nintendo, with Sony and Microsoft's ability to keep up with demand for PS5 and Xbox Series X consoles limited since launch. While the situation does seem to be improving slowly, parts issues may last until at least 2023.

Switch sales remain high, with 214,000 consoles shipped in September alone, but that's down 37% on last year. Multiple factors are at play, not least the console's relative age when compared to other market leaders, which is likely to have contributed to the PS5 recently ending the Switch's three-year run as the US' best-selling console.

If you've managed to grab one already, here's our list of the best Switch games.