Nintendo has recently raised its orders for the Nintendo Switch to two million units a month because of the product's surging demand and the vendor is expected to be able to achieve its annual shipment target of 20 million units for 2017, according to sources from the upstream supply chain.
Since the Nintendo Switch reportedly will begin selling in the China market in early 2018, the sources believe the device's shipments may rise further next year.
By the end of June 2017, Nintendo had already sold 4.7 million Switches and the strong performance has prompted Nintendo to increase the supply of the games console.
The games console is currently in short supply in Japan, and it will not be available in Taiwan until December 2017, with the launch in China has not yet been officially scheduled.
China lifted the ban on games console sales in early 2014. Microsoft started selling its Xbox in China at the end of 2014 and Sony released its PlayStation in early 2015. In 2016, China's games consoles sales grew 56.7% on year, a growth higher than the worldwide average, according to China's official figures.
Nintendo has also recently partnered with Tencent to add one of the China-based player's games to Switch's platform.
The sources also pointed out that the Switch shortages are mainly due to tight supplies of key components including DRAM, and has nothing to do with defective components or issues on its assembly.
The Switch is currently manufactured by Foxconn and Japan-based Hosiden with Foxconn supplying over 50% of the overall volume.
But ODMs such as Pegatron Technology and Wistron are trying to win orders for the games console. Pegatron has stationed a team near Nintendo's headquarters, looking to persuade the Japan-based vendor, according to the sources.
