Nintendo Adds Sharp as Switch Manufacturing Partner Could Boost Fourth Quarter Year-Over-Year Sales

© Nintendo Life

Bloomberg reports that Nintendo has increased production of Switch by partnering with a Malaysian-based manufacturing site owned by Japanese tech giant Sharp.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Nintendo resumed this additional workflow to meet demand and be future proof against any potential problems caused by the US-China trade negotiations, which had become increasingly tense under the presidency of Donald Trump. Nintendo’s current manufacturing sites are based in China and Vietnam.

Nintendo already produces Switch consoles in the old region with assembly partner Foxconn, whose parent company has a stake in Sharp; it is this fact that has helped connect the two companies. Nintendo had tapped Foxconn for alternative production sites during the Trump presidency, and Foxconn noted that Sharp had additional capacity in Malaysia.

Sharp, as longtime Nintendo fans know, has worked with the Kyoto veteran in the past. He was a key player in the production of the Famicom (he would even create his own variant, the Twin Famicom) and later help in the production of the 3DS.

While the deal with Sharp was apparently aimed at avoiding the fallout from the failed US-China trade talks, it looks like the additional production will turn out to be fortuitous; assembly lines will be operating at full capacity at the end of the year, which goes against the traditional trend of a lull in December. However, demand for Switch remains high globally, and as the first batch of “additional” shares will hit the market soon, Nintendo could end up selling even more than the 10.8 million consoles it has moved to the market. during the same period last year.

Bloomberg reports that David Gibson, chief investment advisor at Astris Advisory Japan, forecast that Nintendo will sell 26.4 million Switch consoles for the period ending March 31 – an increase from its (already revised) projection of 24. million units.