Following the news that the world's ongoing semiconductor chip shortage will affect production on the Nintendo Switch, the Japanese company has said that it won't be focusing its more limited resources solely on the OLED model due to the fact that other versions of the console cater to different players needs.
As part of an interview with Bloomberg, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa explained that while he doesn't expect the shortages to recover anytime soon, the company will be allocating what resources it has to more than just its latest model, the Switch OLED.
“We have no plans to focus our supply resources only on the OLED model,” Furukawa said. “The three models each cater to different needs of customers. Sales of the original Switch, as well as the Lite model, remain firm even after the OLED model’s release.”
Originally, Nintendo had planned to produce about 30 million Nintendo Switch units between now and the end of the fiscal year. However, due to the effects of the shortage, the company recently readjusted that target to 24 million – around 20% lower than its original projection.
Speaking as part of a briefing reported on by Reuters, Furukawa said, "We can't produce enough to meet the demand we are expecting during the upcoming holiday season. Currently, there is no sign of improvement and the situation continues to be severe so I can't say how long it will continue."
The popularity of the Switch over the past few years has been immense. Until last month, data collected by the NPD Group showed that the console had led the US monthly hardware charts in terms of unit sales for a 33-month period – having outsold its rivals consistently since November 2018. While the Switch's reign at the top was finally toppled by Sony's PlayStation 5 in September, there's definitely no question in terms of ongoing demand for the handheld.
Estimates for how long the chip shortage will last tend to vary. In August, Intel suggested that supply issues across the industry could drag into 2023 – while more recently, Toshiba director Takeshi Kamebuchi offered a slightly more optimistic outlook saying that he thought the chips would remain "very tight" until September 2022.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.