Nintendo orders manufacturers to build about 20 million Switch 2 units for the year

Nintendo has asked manufacturing partners to build about 20 million Switch 2 consoles in the year through March 2027, Bloomberg reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. The reported production plan is above Nintendo’s public sales outlook of 16.5 million units for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2027. Bloomberg said the schedule is not final and could still change depending on demand. Nintendo set the 16.5 million-unit sales forecast in results released on May 8 for the fiscal year ending March 2027. Reuters reported at the time that the company expected operating profit to rise 2.7% to 370 billion yen and said it aimed to sell 16.5 million Switch 2 units in the year. Nintendo’s investor-relations site lists that financial-results briefing among its latest disclosures. ### Where does the 20 million figure come from? Bloomberg reported on May 22 that Nintendo had told partners and suppliers to assemble about 20 million Switch 2 units in the year through March. Bloomberg attributed the figure to people familiar with the matter and said the plan had not been finalized. That makes the number an internal production target, not a public company forecast. (bloomberg.com) Eurogamer and Nintendo Life separately summarized the Bloomberg report and described the planned output as materially above Nintendo’s official outlook. Those follow-up reports did not add a company confirmation, but they matched Bloomberg’s description of a 20 million-unit manufacturing plan for the fiscal year. ### How far above Nintendo’s own forecast is that? (bloomberg.com) Nintendo’s public target is 16.5 million Switch 2 sales for the fiscal year ending March 2027. A 20 million-unit assembly plan would be about 3.5 million units higher, or roughly 21% above that sales forecast. Bloomberg described the gap as roughly 20%. (eurogamer.net) The distinction matters because production and sales are not the same measure. A company can build more hardware than it expects to sell in a given period in order to support launch windows, retailer inventory, or swings in demand. Bloomberg reported that the latest schedule suggested confidence in demand tied to Nintendo’s upcoming games lineup, though that interpretation was Bloomberg’s, based on the reported plan. (channelnewsasia.com) ### What has Nintendo said publicly so far? May 8 is the key public marker. In its financial guidance for the year ending March 31, 2027, Nintendo said it expected to sell 16.5 million Switch 2 units. Reuters’ report on those results also said Nintendo had sold 19.9 million Switch 2 units in the financial year ended March 31, 2026. (bloomberg.com) Nintendo’s investor-relations page shows the May 2026 financial-results briefing and related explanatory material as the company’s formal disclosure channel for that guidance. The company had not, in the sources reviewed here, publicly updated the 16.5 million sales outlook to 20 million as of May 22. ### Does this mean Nintendo changed its official target? No public filing cited here shows Nintendo changing its official sales guidance. (channelnewsasia.com) Bloomberg’s report described a manufacturing instruction to partners, while Nintendo’s formal outlook remains 16.5 million sales for the fiscal year ending March 2027. Until Nintendo revises guidance in a filing or earnings update, the 16.5 million figure remains the company’s public target. (nintendo.co.jp) March 31, 2027, is the end of the fiscal year covered by both numbers. That gives investors and suppliers a fixed date for comparing Nintendo’s public sales forecast with any later production or shipment data the company chooses to disclose. (channelnewsasia.com) (bloomberg.com)