Nintendo Switch

Production

The Nintendo Switch is produced between Taiwan-based Foxconn and Japan-based Hosiden, with Foxconn accounting for the largest volume.[161] Nintendo did not plan to sell the Switch below manufacturing cost at launch,[162] as they had done for both the 3DS and Wii U at their respective launches;[163] Nintendo affirmed that the Switch would be profitable from launch during its 2016 fiscal year earnings report, as the company saw the console as a key earnings driver for 2017 and beyond.[164] Fomalhaut Techno Solutions, a Japanese product teardown firm, estimated that the Switch cost $257 to make compared to its $299 MSRP, with the Console and Dock at $167 while each Joy-Con cost $45.[165] Kimishima said that they may be able to see further profitability on the Switch when they can achieve volume discounts on components once they reach a level of about 10 million Switch units.[166]

Prior to launch, Nintendo anticipated shipping two million Nintendo Switch units by the end of the console's first month, and assured that its supply chain would be able to meet demand following the launch period to avoid the shortage situation with the NES Classic Edition in late 2016.[167][90][168] Kimishima anticipated that the Switch will have lifetime sales numbers similar to the Wii, which sold 101 million units by 2016.[92]

Following the initial sales report numbers in April 2017, the Financial Times reported that the company was seeking to produce 18 million Switch units in its 2017 financial year as to avoid "customer tantrums" with poor supply levels, particularly near the 2017 holiday season and the release of Super Mario Odyssey on October 27, 2017.[169] Fils-Aimé said in September 2017 that their 2017 production target for the Switch could be hampered by bottlenecks in individual components.[170][171] DigiTimes reported in October 2017 that Nintendo had further shifted the production rate for the Switch up to 2 million per month, with plans to ship 20 million units by the end of the year; the newspaper also stated that the production rate was limited by component availability, and not by other factors of Nintendo's production process.[161]

On the presentation of the 2017 fiscal year results to investors, Nintendo's newly-named president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that they anticipate producing 20 million Switch consoles over the 2018 fiscal year keeping the momentum of its sales in that year.[172]

In June 2019, The Wall Street Journal reported that Nintendo was starting to move some of its production of the Switch and two hardware revisions of the Switch outside of China and into Southeast Asia to limit the impact of new United States tariffs on electronics made in China.[173][174]

Nintendo Switch Lite

On July 10, 2019, Nintendo announced a version of the Nintendo Switch dedicated to handheld play called the Nintendo Switch Lite. The Switch Lite is a single unit, integrating the Joy-Con as part of the main unit's hardware, and uses a smaller 5.5 inches (14 cm) screen. Additionally, a regular directional pad replaced the four directional buttons on the integrated left Joy-Con. While using a smaller battery than the main Switch, the Switch Lite uses a more power-efficient chipset to extend the estimated use from 2.5-6.5 hours to 3-7 hours on a single battery charge.[175] Because of the integrated Joy-Con, the Switch Lite is primarily limited to those games that can be played in handheld mode, while some other games like 1-2-Switch require separate Joy-Con to be used.

The Switch Lite was released worldwide on September 20, 2019 with an MSRP of US$199.99.[176]

Hardware revisions

In early 2019, in addition to reports of a light-weight revision of the Switch hardware, The Wall Street Journal and Nikkei reported on a rumored more powerful unit that they said was set to arrive in 2020.[177][178] Potential revisions to the Switch were also observed by a notification Nintendo had sent to the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) alerting the FCC to changes in the Switch's System-on-a-Chip and NAND memory from its original design in July 2019.[179]

An updated version of the Nintendo Switch, featuring a longer battery life of 4.5–9 hours was announced on July 17, 2019 and was released in Japan and North America in mid-August 2019, and released in the United Kingdom in September 2019.[180][181][182] This revision primarily features a change in the main CPU and GPU that leads to lower power consumption while otherwise maintaining the same battery, which extends the battery life.[175]

The Switch's user interface features tile-based access to games that are either present in the game card slot or stored within the unit's storage devices. It includes quick access buttons for a News feed from Nintendo, eShop access, and a photo album for screenshots captured during gameplay;[110] the 4.0 update to the software in October 2017 also enabled capturing and sharing video from select games.[155] A single Switch console supports up to eight user profiles, which each can be tied to a Nintendo Account user ID.[152] Profiles can be represented by either a pre-made avatar from an internal gallery, or using a Mii. The Mii creator was upgraded with increased color options for aspects such as hair styles; however, it is integrated into the system settings, rather than being an independent application.[183][152][184][185]

Prior to the 4.0 update, players discovered that the Switch's firmware included an easter egg to allow players to play the NES Golf title via a built-in emulator. While Nintendo has not confirmed its presence, journalists and players believe this is a tribute to Nintendo's former president Satoru Iwata; Golf was programmed by Iwata, and the game can only be accessed if the system clock is set to July 11 – the day that Iwata died – and the Joy-Con are moved similarly to how Iwata would move his hands in his Nintendo Direct presentations. Some Japanese users referred to this as a omamori (charm) left by Iwata himself.[186] With the 4.0 update, the executable code for this Easter egg appears to have been wiped by Nintendo.[187]

In August 2018, a Twitter user found files on the Switch's firmware while reverse-engineering the console, which suggest that Nintendo was possibly testing VR functionality for the Switch. The Twitter user was able to activate the hidden "VR Mode", which split the screen into two displays.[188][189] Hackers found that the code related to possible VR functionality had been hidden in the Switch for over a year.[189]

Security

Nintendo continued its white hat security program that it had with the Nintendo 3DS. With help of third-party website HackerOne, Nintendo will award up to $20,000 to the first user to identify any vulnerability that impacts piracy, cheating, or potential sending of inappropriate content to younger users, the amount based on the severity of the security flaw.[190]

In April 2018, two separate groups discovered a means to use an exploit chain in the Tegra chip system that can be used to boot other software on the Switch, which could have both beneficial or malicious uses. The exploit is unpatchable as the necessary support to update the Tegra's ROM was not included on the Switch systems as shipped. Both groups had notified Nvidia and Nintendo of the exploit before public announcement of their findings.[191] Users studying the hardware determined that Nintendo has the capacity to permanently ban specific Switch consoles used to obtain software via this exploit from the Nintendo Network, as the Switch console includes a unique device identification code used as part of the validation to the Network. As games downloaded from the Nintendo Network include encrypted information that ties the Nintendo ID to the console, which is transmitted to Nintendo when users start playing games, Nintendo can track unapproved software downloads and take action.[192] Nintendo has reportedly fixed the vulnerability in newer Switch units as of July 2018.[193]