Nintendo Switch will be “hard to find this year,” according to Bloomberg tech reporter Takashi Mochizuki. The shortages could be prolonged across 2020 as Nintendo could struggle to obtain key components for the production of the hybrid system.
PS5 and Xbox Series X are reported to begin production in June 2020, and those are said not been in any trouble at the time being, meaning they should be able to respect their announced Holiday launch window.
Nintendo is worried about the situation in the Philippines and in Malaysia, where lockdowns are still in place.
It’s an unexpected twist of fate as Nintendo had opted for plants in those countries after the tariff war with the United States suggested that manufacturing in China alone would have been risky.
While it had issues with the production in China, that has gradually returned to its standards, but other countries from Southeast Asia are still struggling with the novel coronavirus.
Switch’s shortages could be due to the lack of PCB and passive components over the next few months, Bloomberg says, but limited DRAM access could be an issue in the latter half of the year as Nintendo will have to face competition from smartphone makers in that field.
Nintendo is already struggling with COVID-19 since it has multiple games meant to release in 2020 but not announced yet as they could be delayed if the emergency goes on even longer.
Nintendo Switch recently crossed the 55 million units sold milestone worldwide, even though it has been forced to reduce its forecast for the incoming fiscal year by 2 million compared with the previous FY due to the pandemic.
