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When Nintendo issued its most recent financial reports it stuck rigidly to an estimate that it'll ship 10 million Switch units this financial year. There's little doubt among various analysts - and anyone with common sense - that Nintendo could sell more than that, but there have been question marks over logistical issues with manufacturing; basically, whether Nintendo can source the parts to make more units.

Nintendo has, however, made it clear that it's been looking to increase manufacturing to meet demand, so various unofficial estimates reckon it's only a matter of time before Nintendo confirms a higher target. Now Digitimes has weighed in, citing "sources from the upstream supply chain" that Nintendo is now producing two million units a month, and therefore hoping to hit 20 million shipped systems for the year. It also claims the Switch could arrive in China as soon as 'early 2018'.

Digitimes has a mixed record in its reports, on some occasions getting pretty close to the money and on other occasions being somewhat off the mark. Of course this isn't the first report that Nintendo's set to shift more units than its conservative official estimates, with analyst predictions in recent months varying from 12 million up to that 20 million figure.

We should have a good idea of where things officially stand in a few weeks with Nintendo's next financial reports on 30th October. We'll be surprised if the projection for Switch hardware shipments doesn't climb, though doubling previous estimates to 20 million seems fanciful.

Whatever the reality it's clear the Switch is enjoying strong momentum at present; the more units that Nintendo can get to stores, the better.

Thanks to all that sent this in.

[source digitimes.com]