Nintendo sold 3.5 million Switch 2 units in just four days, a record-breaking start to the company’s first new gaming console in eight years.
The Japanese company has sold more of the device, and the device’s original switches managed about 2.7 million in the first month of 2017. They also reinforced analyst forecasts that Nintendo may sell supply and can sell more.
Players from Tokyo to San FranciscoqueueLast week, they had mastered one of the most anticipated gadgets of the year. The long-awaited Switch 2 has taken a global blow in the original, and the game pioneered a hybrid design that allows for playing at home on TV and on mobile.
The launch of the new switch is seen as a watershed for the industry, with partners and competitors guiding business decisions over the coming years. At a time when sparse margins and explosive development budgets, a popular new console could put the industry into play and balance the growing dominance of a handful of Marquee, live-service games.
Chasing out-of-control demand is the first major challenge for Nintendo’s face.
President Shuntaro Furukawa has Apologize The Switch 2 was empty-handed after the customer left the lottery. The Kyoto-based company has asked its partners to speed up console production. It also comes from secured protocols from Japanese online marketplace operators such as Rakuten Group, Mercari and Ly Corp to prevent resellers from taking advantage of the scarcity of hardware.
The console is mainly manufactured by partners including Foxconn Technology Group. Nintendo shares fell more than 3% in Tokyo after fears of how tariffs could damage supply.
“The pace is good,” said Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Toyo Securities. “The key is to maintain assembly capacity and increase productivity.”
The long-term shortage may stimulate consumers to turn elsewhere and flatten.
Furukawa told analysts at a May earnings briefing that Nintendo’s priority is to maintain launch momentum as long as possible. This is more difficult because the Switch 2 retails for its price compared to weaknesses in the global economy.
Furukawa also has it warn Under tariffs from U.S. President Donald Trump, the company may consider increasing the price of consoles in the future.
This story was originally fortune.com
