The Nintendo Switch launch has been a monumental success by all accounts. The console sold out its initial shipment and followup restocks are also flying off store shelves. Many might attribute this to lower production by Nintendo, but the company produced a fair number of units, it just wasn’t enough to satisfy demand. With this in mind reports have surfaced from Wall Street Journal that Nintendo plans to double production of the Nintendo Switch over the next few months.
The original plan was to produce up to eight million consoles, which has now been raised to about sixteen million Switches. This plan will begin April 1st, the start of the fiscal year for Nintendo. If they follow through on this plan, and the units end up selling well, they will easily top the lifetime sales of the Wii U, which sit at under 14 million units.
It’s too early to say whether or not Nintendo has bounced back from the failure that was the Wii U. Sings are good though, with the Switch selling well and generally being more well recognized outside of hardcore gamer circles. The Wii U, due to its name and a strangely cryptic advertising campaign, was largely ignored by non-hardcore gamers because they were simply confused about what the console was.
The Nintendo Switch has none of these problems so far, with a fantastic ad campaign that focuses on the key function of the console: transitioning between home and portable use. The launch of the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also helped push the system to most gamer’s most-wanted list, and more games are coming throughout 2017 that look to increase demand.
Once Super Mario Odyssey hits this holiday season the Switch will have a very powerful lineup of games, so having more systems on store shelves will be a big benefit for Nintendo.
