Nintendo Switch Screen Supplier, Japan Display Inc., is Facing Tough Times

Artificial shortages! Thry enjoy the press I say!

Obviously planned, Nintendo trying to keep stock low so they can sell... More...

Looks like they picked all the wrong suppliers...

"nintendo biz not big. Switch uses cheap panels and that's just for 10m units or more..so not profitable at all for jdi"

I dont like the sound of that at all. Cheap?...............

Thing is, I have total confidence in Mr Kimishima. This won't be a problem.

@oats-81 Cheaper compared to the screens Apple buys.

@Octane Its like...they end up competing and losing out to Apple for FLASH storage.

But here when Apple walks away the screen supplier loses half of its business.

You cant win!

Buying 'cheap' screens from a failing company may not be the best idea. Having said that, I am sure Nintendo will find an alternative supplier, let's just hope they keep the quality.

Also, Switch's cheap screen looks pretty good to me. And it don't break easy.

Damn Russians at it again!

@oats-81 cheap as in 720P, as opposed to the Super Duper Extra Quad Multi Mega HD displays they're putting in cell phones these days...

@daveh30 Yep, it's a nice screen as far as handheld gaming is concerned. It's just not top of the line in 2017, especially compared to smart phone tech.

"Switch uses cheap panels "

The most important part of this article. Nintendo are fools if they think people are going to gravitate towards cheap, plastic screens at $300 a pop.

@gatorboi352 Boi there is more than just the screen for $300.

You dont just buy the screen and thats it. And Id rather plastic than glass. God forbid I drop my phone.

@oats-81
Would rather that than the expensive srcreens they put in my phone that shatters into a million pieces when I drop it from more the 30cm.

My Switch cost me 299.99 my Samsung Galaxy S8 plus cost me 849.99 , so I'm sure the panels on the Nintendo Switch are cheaper by a big margin and rightful so.

@gatorboi352

The quality of the switch screen is fine and the console does not need any more than 720p in handheld mode.

The sales of the console and constant shortages show that consumers like the product.

@Romeo-75 I looked it up. My S8 is a 5.8 inch 1440p screen.

That is absurd density for that size and if dropped its over. Shatter and bits everywhere.

@gatorboi352
What you should do is have a bit more of a cry about it to Nintendo till they change the screen and we can pay $800 for each unit. That sounds great. We can also look forward to more money down the drain when we have to replace that screen. This sounds like a dream come true to me.

@OneArmedGiant the screens were getting scratched mere days into people owning them.

@johnvboy i'm sticking to my original prediction on Switch: Gamecube lifetime sales numbers.

@johnvboy
>the console does not need any more than 720p in handheld mode.

Exactly. People also tend to forget that it costs more in CPU/GPU power (and thus battery power) to drive more pixels, so you don't really want too high a resolution for a handheld device or it's not as practical.

@oats-81 now a days a 720p plastic touchscreen is not at all expensive. It's the 4k gorilla glass 4 screens that are pricey.
It's not that the quality is cheap it's that the costs/revenue/profits are low

@gatorboi352
"i'm sticking to my original prediction on Switch: Gamecube lifetime sales numbers."

Ahahahaha....

Unless the Switch's lifespan is less than 2 years, that prediction is insane even by the absolute most pessimistic standards.

@gatorboi352
I have scratches on my screen. At first I had the Switch set up underneath my TV (kind of) near floor level, and I think that's what caused it due to the angle from which I (and the kids!) took it out of and put it in the dock. Recently put it next to the TV and haven't noticed any new scratches since. Still, it's a weird thing since I coughed up a lot of dough for this thing. If the placement of the dock has anything to do with the scratching it's a bad design/choice of screen problem.

@gatorboi352 Gamecube lifetime sales numbers?!? don't be an idiot

Nintendo has a great product, a terrific marketing campaign and crappy suppliers. I think the Switch will hit the 10M mark in annual sales, but not the happy numbers some financial world "insiders" predict for this reason alone.

@gatorboi352

You are looking at the console from the hardcore markets sales perspective,which might give you the sales numbers you are suggesting.

The switch has a much wider appeal than a traditional console,and it's 5.7 million sales considering it's supply issues and release month,suggest you are way off with your prediction...but as with anything only time will tell.

Puts on tinfoil hat

Clearly Nintendo is bribing Apple to attempt to bankrupt JDI in order to create even more artificial demand.

@BLP_Software Yeah.

I read that the Sony Xperia XZ Premium is another thing people would never want to ever drop if it can be helped.

It is a genuine 5.5" 2160p HDR screen that
runs at 1080p for battery conservation.

@oats-81 Apple uses panels that are more advanced (and therefore more expensive) than the Switch, so comparatively they're 'cheap', yes.

Now would be a good time to start trying to negotiate a larger manufacturing contract with Nintendo next manufacturing run.

They should use the local window maker.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE , Hahaha LoL best comment of the day , funny stuff, Hahaha LoL .😅

@Romeo-75 I try my best.

It may be a "cheap" screen - but 10 million units of new business... What's their turnover if 10 million new sales is insignificant?

Buy OLED Screens from Samsung (or someone else).

And put Gorilla Glass on it while you're at it.

Really though, this is an example of why businesses that only exist because of funding from the government are usually doomed to cost more to run than they make just like most government departments.

@gatorboi352
Are you nuts ?!
Switch will sold more after this shortages.
Keep saying your negativity, your HATRED against Nintendo and Good News from Nintendo will KICK Your Butt each time you heard something great from Nintendo !!

@oats-81 The whole device costs $300 US and it's a 720p display, of course they are cheap relative to what is available - that doesn't mean it's bad but just that it's obviously cheap compared to something they might sell with 4K and 60 inch for example.

@gatorboi352
Mine has none. What you been doing with your? Sliding down the driveway on it.

@gatorboi352 Correction: The screens were getting scratched by users who misused (aka abused) their units. Bought mine on release day, it has zero marks/scuffs/scratches etc, and I bring it everywhere (not to mention play it at home as well). The only reason a Switch would have "battle scars" is if mistreated. Especially in the early days.

So, you have Apple and Nintendo as your customers, and still bleeding money? I didn't know it was possible.

Completely happy with the clear, bright, colourful 720p display on my launch model, thanks very much. Lovely balance for the tech in the Switch, and it's tough as old boots by most accounts.

The 1440p display in my Samsung S7 completely failed from a 2 foot impact. Glass was intact but the display died. Following an insurance repair I'm not convinced it's waterproof any more. I'm very confident the Switch would have shrugged it off.

@Mii_duck Even with a 10 bucks profit, we are talking 100MM.

@gatorboi352 There has to be some insane slowdown in Switch sales if you expect it to only reach GameCube sales numbers. The GameCube only managed to sell 3.8 million units in its first seven months on the market. By the end of June (just four months after release), the Switch sold 4.7 million units. The GameCube also had the advantage of launching in a holiday shopping period, while the Switch released in the spring, a typically tepid sales period. If this momentum continues (and with the demand for the console the way it is, I'd expect it to only increase come the holidays and games like Mario Odyssey), the Switch is on track to sell 8.2 million units in its first seven months, or roughly 116% more units than the GameCube moved. Mind you, stock shortages in many places have prevented sales from being even higher. So unless the world suddenly and drastically changes its mind about the Switch, we're already seeing substantial evidence that the Switch is easily on track to outdo the GameCube in terms of sales.

@BustedUpBiker I don't think there is anything wrong with the screen. It doesn't look "cheap". As someone else said, "inexpensive" would probably have been more appropriate.

But there is also no point in pretending that there is not much more that could have done in that respect. Just look at current gen LG 4K/HDR OLED screens ... there is just no pretending that these two can compare in terms of image quality.

I might have been willing to pay an extra $100 or so for a premium Switch version with a state-of-the-art OLED screen. Like I said, it's not even so much about the resolution, but the rather the image quality, brightness and certainly contrast.
I think the blacks on the Switch are ... okay. It's nothing that distracts me from the game, but it's also nothing that really awes either. It's just okay.

@Ralek85 Absolutely. As I said, I adore my Switch and the display is perfectly sufficient. I also forgot to mention the lack of motion blur which is great considering it's LCD.

The Switch display is of course outperformed by the more expensive Samsung S7. The S7 is pin sharp with its high pixel density, has extremely accurate colour reproduction to both the RGB and Adobe standards (class leading at the time I think), and YouTube looks so sweet in 1440p60.

However I play my mobile games on the 1080p60 setting. Helps with battery consumption and I guess framerate (hard to tell as the GPU is very capable), and it still looks trick despite being sub-native.

I'll stand by my view that for the current internals of the Switch, particularly performance and battery capacity, 720p is the sweet spot. Had, say, the Switch been based off a Tegra X2 variant, with the potential improvements in performance and power consumption, I'd have expected a 1080p display for sure. Perhaps the 2nd generation Switch will do so, as it'll be a quick win for the devs - they could use the current docked performance profile to deliver 900p or 1080p when in handheld mode, and us early adopters will still be supported with the 720p handheld mode.

Or maybe we'll be lucky like those who managed to pick up an OLED PS Vita, and the current model will be the pick of the bunch. Time will tell.

@BLP_Software 1440p isn't that crazy for mobile displays. Firstly there's a big difference between rendering text and rendering a game. Text you want to be very very clean, where you can get away with doing things at a lower resolution in a game where everything is in motion anyway and higher red introduces significant performance differences.

Also that S8 you're using is intended in part to be used in VR headsets where the phone will be an inch from your eyes. The resolution might be high for normal use but when used in a VR headset it's not that unreasonable at all.

Switch displays are fine although unlike others, I'd prefer if it was glass out of the box. Nothing a glass screen protector didn't address but.

With all these component shortages piling up, we might be seeing a lowkey hardware revision sooner than anticipated. I'm not expecting anything noticeable though.

@MonkiPlays I am too KINDA! I already had to send it back for a blown speaker and warping and also on monday had to send both joycon back because the clips that kept them locked into the system started to chip because the release buttons were too tight. I am VERY happy with it though and glad I got one because I really didn't want to have to scour stores for months to get it after. I didn't even preorder mines

PS Vita 1000 has a much better screen. Shame about the resolution, but that might worked in Nintendo's favour I guess as it is with their underpowered X1. OLED > cheap plastic lcd

So many NDF getting triggered over the word cheap lol

inb4 slige comes with another conspiracy theory.....lol tinfoil much that guy. But in fairness Nintendo is guilty somehow......haha that is how trolls look like trying to back $h&t they said.

I think there's something wrong with a business that can produce and sell 10 million of something, and say it's not enough to keep the company afloat.

@Nintendo_Thumb all electronics are like that. The ones doing the components get almost no profit. An iPhone costs roughly $200 to manufacture.

A government backed Japanese screen maker that can't stay afloat and has been in the red for 3 years straight? Talk about walking through a field of red flags to sign a contract. Maybe try to venture out from Japan, get some more reliable business partners, get out of that bubble you've stayed in for a couple decades?

The real question is: why the heck Nintendo hired it as its supplier, knowing that for the last 3 years it has been on the red.

@Therad That's so untrue. Many of the manufacturers for Apple's iPhone and iPad do tons of money -like Foxcon- and continue to do better and better. I remember one company that made a part of the screen -wasn't LG nor Samsung- being really, really successful (I think the one making the hardening of the screen) because of its contract with Apple.

Even at 20-30 bucks per screen , this company could have offset 20-25% of their losses just by making screens for the Switch.

@maceng it is because the hardening is a special process, they can take more money for it. But still, the entire manufacturing cost for an iPhone is around $200. https://www.google.se/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2016/09/20/iphone-7-cost/%3fsource=dam

And no, you need to have a certain volume to be profitable. Otherwise they need to offset it by raising their prices.

@thesilverbrick
Annual Gamecube sales peaked at around 5.5 million units sold in 2002. The Switch has already sold 2 million during the first quarter of FY2017 and will almost certainly meet or (depending on supply) exceed Nintendo's 10 million unit shipment forecast during this fiscal year.

Claiming that the Switch will sell Gamecube numbers lifetime means expecting some overnight, catastrophic alteration of the gaming market to occur. Like a meteor striking and destroying the planet in summer/fall 2018, right when the Switch exceeds 21 million units sold.

With that being said, a meteor destroying the planet is a bit more than just an "alteration" in the gaming industry...

Yes, I've seen that number and believe it to be accurate. But, as you said, is a matter of units sold. I company A sells Apple a 20 bucks iPhone's part, with a 2 buck profit, said company has made over 1,000MM in the last 3 years.

Also, as I stated, I'm talking about profit per screen sold, which of course includes R&D cost.

Bottom Line: japan Display Inc is at fault (mismanagement brought it down, despite having such good buyers as Apple and Nintendo), and Nintendo is also at fault for relying its screens on a company with such an underperforming record.

@oats-81 The Switch display is only 720p. For that size it's very low resolution.

The 2K displays used in iPhone 7/7Plus are much more expensive.
They are smaller displays than the Switch and pack 4 times the pixel count! Much more expensive to manufacture.

Also Apple's orders are huge. While Nintendo apparently ordered about 10 million displays, Apple in general orders 5 to 10 times that amount.

I keep seeing comments here banging on about the comment saying the Switch uses cheap panels. The reason it's cheap is because it's only 720p, nothing to do with the screen quality itself. Mobiles use higher resolution screens which is why they are more expensive.

@Mii_duck
Apple sold 41.026 million iPhones and 4.292 million Mac units in Q3 2017
The screen they use on those devices are at least twice the price of the Switch screen, so yes selling 10 million screens for Nintendo is not going to make a difference for them when they are loosing Apple as a client

@bignrules
Of course, tovarisch!

"Switch uses cheap panels and that's just for 10m units or more..so not profitable at all for jdi."

I find it hard to believe that selling 10 million units of a product isn't enough to make a profit. If that's the case, then why did they agree to the deal?

I just knew there would be discussions about the "cheap displays" part...

The Switch screen doesn't have an ridiculously high pixel density and doesn't use OLED/AMOLED technologie like most phones use, so of course they are cheaper.

If you have problems with scratches (which doesn't seem to be a the case for the majority) then that has nothing to do with the screen itself anyway. The scratches would be on the plastic above the screen...

@argus Sure they make money with the Switch displays. It is just that this alone doesn't make enough money for the whole company to be profitable.

@westman98 Exactly. Thanks for backing me up. All the research and facts won't make a difference in the mind of our doom prophet friend, though. He's committed to trashing the Switch for emotional reasons and logic has never been able to win out over emotion.

@argus Of course they made a profit. He said that Nintendo doesn't mean big business to them. Also, that's the reporter's take, who maybe compared to Apple's take, which could be 10x, 15x or more than 20x Nintendo's. Also, Japan Display surely sells Apple much better -and more expensive- displays.

But yes, even if I'm to sell 10MM bananas with a 10cent profit, I'll be a millionaire selling 10MM!

@InternetBowser You wouldn't be able to. So far, Nintendo games on mobile used up too many resources: Pokemon SHuffle, Mario Run (I continue to play this, but with low-res enabled on a iPhone 6), Mitomo (which takes over 30s to upload), etc.

@elstif Japan Display is a minor supplier to Apple, which gets most of its displays from Samsung and LG.

@BustedUpBiker Yeah, the screen of the 1st gen Vita was really something to behold at the time. I mean, I've been playing on Panasonic plasmas for many years now, so it was not like I had not been used to at the very least properly inky black levels, but still ... for a portable, it was quite something. I mean, I still adore it - I just use it rarely these days.

Back when I picked it up, it also came pretty cheap. It was around the time I think most suppliers were trying to get rid of their stock. I picked up a new one incl. Tearway for under 150€.

Oh dear, more stock shortages for Nintendo?

Well I guess the only solution to this is for Nintendo to just buy them and then fund for the supplies themselves.

@Kirgo @maceng I must have misunderstood Takashi's tweet then. When he said "Switch uses cheap panels and that's just for 10m units or more..so not profitable at all", I interpreted that as no profit on the Switch screens (which made no sense to me).

@argus I guess you can read it like that as well...
But I am pretty sure, what he meant is "pretty much no profit on the grand scheme". Otherwise it would indeed make no sense.

@retro_player_22 That is nuts. First, Nintendo would have to pay for all the losses accumulated (around 1 billion dollars?) plus the factories, R&D and a large etc., for a screen that they can get elsewhere for about the same price. LG and Samsung both make inexpensive screen for several of their cheap phones. For sure, it will cost more than than what they are paying for them right now, but in the long run it could be for the better.

@maceng Well for compatibility sake it makes sense but if Nintendo could find others to do the same, you won't hear any complain from me. The only thing I'm worry about is the quality of the screen itself, we all know Nintendo use two different screen tech for the 3DS, one model being worst than the other, hopefully if they do partner with some other companies it won't just go the cheap way.

@retro_player_22 I guess that eitehr LG or Samsung could produce a much better screen that a company thta has been bleeding cash for the last 3 years.

Also, Nintendo is not really known for making big investments as this will require. Is a case of wanting to drink good-, cheap milk, but not wanting to buy the cow (it is anSpanish thing, hard to translate).

@gatorboi352 You were noticeably absent from the Japanese sales article earlier yesterday. Wonder why?

Oh that's sad. I hope things get sorted out quick. If only Nintendo stopped messing around and worked with a major manufacturer then we could have had enough Switches. Oh yeah, the chip is also having a shortage increasing amounts of discomfort

@ibis_87