It should come as no surprise that the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 is one of the most hotly-anticipated events in gaming to happen this year. Nintendo has likely foreseen the incredible demand for the console, as a report now indicates that the company will be working with Samsung to manufacture more Switch 2 units. According to Bloomberg, Samsung will reportedly make chips for the Switch 2 using its 8-nanometer node.
While neither company has confirmed this as of yet, according to the report, anonymous sources have indicated that with Samsung’s help in making more chips for the Switch 2, Nintendo will be able to stock 20 million units of the console by March 2026. The report also points out that, with this deal with Nintendo, Samsung will be able to better invest in its chip making divisions in order to compete with TSMC – the company that has been largely behind the fabrication of most major chips in the world – on a larger scale.
Going by the report, chip manufacturing may not be where the partnership between Samsung and Nintendo ends. While the Korean company has also made memory modules for Nintendo, another source has said that Samsung is trying to convince Nintendo to go with OLED displays when it decides to release a refresh of the Switch 2 down the line.
During a recent earnings report, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the forecast for Switch 2 unit sales was set at 15 million. During a Q&A session with investors, Furukawa also spoke about how the company might decide to raise the console’s price later on depending on how the situation with the US tariffs on imported goods plays out. The priority for now, however, will be to popularise the console.
“At this time, the top priority is to quickly popularize the Switch 2 hardware,” said Furukawa. “If the assumptions regarding tariffs change significantly, we would like to consider what price adjustments we should make and implement them after considering various factors.”
Furukawa also noted that the relatively conservative sales forecast for the Switch 2 happened because the company is aware that its higher price tag over its predecessor might end up being an obstacle to wider adoption during the console’s first year in the market. “Since the Switch 2 is priced higher than the original Switch, we recognize that there will be considerable hurdles in achieving the console’s widespread adoption in the early stages,” he said.
When it comes to production runs causing stock shortages, however, Furukawa said that it was essentially a non-issue. “We’ve set projected sales for the Nintendo Switch 2 in the ongoing fiscal year at 15 million units,” he said. “This figure is based on a target comparable to sales of the original Nintendo Switch during the 10-month period from its launch in March 2017 to the end of December the same year.”
The Nintendo Switch 2 will be coming out on June 5. Industry analysis firm DFC Intelligence has gone as far as to say that it might be the most important console launch ever.
