BODY: Nintendo is quietly aiming higher than it has let on. According to a Bloomberg report, the Kyoto-based gaming giant has asked its partner companies and suppliers to assemble approximately 20 million Nintendo Switch 2 units during the fiscal year ending March 2027 β a figure that sits roughly 20% above the 16.5 million consoles Nintendo officially projected to investors in early May.
The gap between the public forecast and the production request is significant. It suggests Nintendo is preparing for stronger-than-expected demand, or at minimum wants enough inventory cushion to avoid the supply shortages that plagued the original Switch launch and the PlayStation 5 rollout. Either way, suppliers are being told to gear up well beyond the conservative number shared with the market.
Bloomberg's reporting points to Nintendo working closely with its assembly partners across Asia to scale output. The Switch 2, which has been positioned as a major hardware upgrade rather than a mid-generation refresh, carries higher component costs than its predecessor β meaning the company is taking on more financial risk by pushing assembly targets upward.
For context, the original Nintendo Switch sold roughly 15 million units in its first full fiscal year. Hitting 20 million Switch 2 units in a comparable window would mark one of the strongest console launches in Nintendo's history, and would put it on a trajectory competitive with the Switch's lifetime trajectory of over 150 million units sold.
The insider take
From Tokyo, the read here is classic Nintendo conservatism in public, ambition in private. Japanese hardware makers routinely under-promise to investors and over-prepare with suppliers β it protects the stock from disappointment while keeping factory lines ready if demand surges. The 20% gap also reflects lessons learned from the chaotic Switch 1 launch era, when scalpers dominated headlines for months. Expect Nintendo's official forecast to drift upward in later earnings calls if early sell-through justifies it.
Originally reported by GIGAZINE (Japanese).