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[ggx2ac]

This is a look at the companies that manufacture the components of the Nintendo Switch, some are doing fine, while others are not okay.

If you are wondering about the relevance of this, then take a look at Renesas and how the failure of the Wii U affected them.

The date in the thread title is relative to Nintendo's financial year ending in March 2018.

Japan Display Inc. (JDI)

References: https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Co...aces-rocky-road-even-with-new-turnaround-plan

JDI are the sole manufacturer of Nintendo Switch's LCD screen, they posted their results for the April-June quarter recently and booked a net loss of ¥31.5B ($286M). They are laying off 3700 workers or 30% of their workforce to reduce fixed costs by ¥50B ($454M), doing so will restructure their plant operations in Japan while increasing their operations done via outsourcing.

The company will be expecting its 4th year of losses in a row, anticipating a net loss of ¥200B (~$1.8B). JDI will be looking to partner with an overseas technology company to boost investment capital due to their poor performance.

JDI has relied on INCJ, a government-backed corporation that has given capital investment to keep the company afloat but with JDI falling behind in capabilities to mass produce OLED screens, they have are losing sales to LG and Samsung as Apple will be changing from JDI to its rivals for manufacturing OLED screens for the yet to be revealed iPhone 8 model.

___

Toshiba

References: https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/T...a-court-essentially-gets-out-of-Toshiba-s-way

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/T...ry-saga-drags-on-amid-debate-on-SK-Hynix-role

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/T...r-to-sign-off-on-fiscal-2016-earnings-in-part

https://asia.nikkei.com/Spotlight/T...-investment-aimed-at-gaining-edge-in-chip-row

Toshiba is a mess to go over explaining. First, they are one of the suppliers that Nintendo used for NAND flash memory chips, the other being Samsung.

Toshiba has ¥600B ($5.43B) in losses associated with Waterhouse Electric thanks to purchasing a nuclear power plant construction company in the US. Toshiba are trying to sell their Memory Chip business for around ¥2T because the losses from their nuclear investment could accumulate up to ¥1T.

Toshiba, has a complicated relationship with Western Digital. Western Digital owns SanDisk who share a chip fabrication plant with Toshiba in Japan. WD claims that they are entitled to a stake in Toshiba's memory chip business due to a joint venture agreement regarding the above chip plant. Even though Western Digital brought forward a bid for the Toshiba Memory Chip unit, Toshiba selected a conglomerate of Japanese financial firms along with SK Hynix which is confusing because SK Hynix wants a stake and they are a South Korean company whereas Toshiba wanted to keep its technology safe in Japan away from foreign rivals.

Western Digital are cock-blocking Toshiba from going through with their sale by seeking an injunction through court. A California court recently decided they wouldn't grant WD's request for injunction so the matter has now been taken to the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. The matter might not even be settled before March 2018 where Toshiba needs to make this sale to deal with their debt otherwise they'll be delisted from the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

___

Samsung

References: http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/AC/Samsung-plans-18bn-chip-investment-as-Toshiba-founders

https://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Equities/Underlying-trends-cast-doubt-on-chip-boom-s-longevity

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/08/07/business/samsung-trial-lee.html

Samsung is the other supplier of NAND flash memory chips for the Nintendo Switch. Samsung is investing $18B to increase production of their NAND flash memory chips, they recently completed a new fabrication plant that makes 64-layer 3D NAND chips which can provide higher storage and manufacture more chips per wafer compared to the 2D planar method.

It is important to highlight since NAND flash memory chip supplies are scarce not only due to its use in Smartphones but it has been exacerbated by companies investing in IoT which need NAND chips in servers for data centres.

Despite scandals related to the company where Samsung's vice chairman may be sentenced to 12 years prison for bribery with South Korean government officials, the company achieved one of its strongest quarters ever with a profit of approximately $10 billion.

___

Alps Electric

References:

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1334244

http://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Tre...ts-makers-flying-high-on-smartphone-tailwinds

http://www.alps.com/pdf/ir/disclosure/2018apx1_e.pdf

Alps Electric manufactures the HD Rumble for the Nintendo Switch using its product known as the Haptic Reactor. (Check the neogaf reference for more information.)

There is no known shortage of Linear Resonant Actuators as Alps Electric cited during their recent earnings that sales of their Haptic products increased significantly for the quarter.

They are not in any trouble financially like JDI or Toshiba since Alps Electric posted a net profit of ¥6.3B for the first quarter FY3/2018.

____

Minebea Mitsumi

References: https://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Tok...sumi-s-Q1-profit-seen-beating-market-estimate

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Deals/Minebea-Mitsumi-aim-to-become-more-than-sum-of-their-parts

(And other references linked in keywords below.)

Have you heard of Mitsumi Electric? Have you heard of Minebea? Then you probably haven't heard of those two companies that ended up merging into Minebea Mitsumi. What do they manufacture for the Nintendo Switch? I don't know. I can confirm that they are involved.

First, we'll go through their past histories. Before the merger, Mitsumi Electric was an electronic components manufacturer and they had only one big client, and that client was Nintendo.

According to this Wiki article, Mitsumi Electric manufactured Nintendo's console controllers from the NES to the Wii. Apparently they were involved in some capacity with Wii U hardware.

There is documentation that shows Nintendo is Mitsumi Electric's major customer. More past documentation can be found here.

What about Minebea? Before the merger, Minebea is known for manufacturing ball bearings and for having around 70% to 80% of market share in LED backlights. Surprisingly they have worked with Nintendo before, they made strain gauge force sensors which were used in the Wii Balance Board that let you play games like Wii Fit.

Onto the present, they've merged into Minebea Mitsumi. They've been making stuff for the Nintendo Switch but we don't know what, I've looked through their recent presentations and Q&A sessions, looking at their products, it is possible that they make the AC Adapters and USB Type-C connectors for the Nintendo Switch. But I don't know since I can't prove that. They do manufacture those things though. The LED backlights used in the Switch could be from them too since they have the largest market share in LED backlights anyway.

I looked through their last three quarters for presentations and Q&A sessions here and here. They haven't put up the Q&A for the latest quarter but the previous ones will tell you that they do work on the Switch and that they can't disclose what they do due to confidentiality agreements.

http://www.minebeamitsumi.com/engli...sure/presentation/p2017/p2017_qa04/index.html

The following question mentions confidentiality agreements.

Q: What should we make of Mitsumi's medium-term plan? How are its top products, such as game consoles, OISs, and VCMs, factored into it?

A: While I can't give you specifics about any of these products due to confidentiality agreements, in terms of projected sales under the medium-term plan, we expect camera actuator sales to remain flat. There will be ups and downs ranging from 1 to 2 billion yen depending on the year. We also made the estimates for game consoles very conservative. Actual results for this fiscal year should be much higher.

http://www.minebeamitsumi.com/engli...sure/presentation/p2017/p2017_qa03/index.html

The following question is about seasonal factors regarding demand for game consoles.

Q: Can you tell us how production of new game consoles will affect your bottom line? You said earlier that you can expect to make a steady profit, but there should be a big seasonal factor, differing from the seasonal factor affecting the LED backlight business. Should I assume that production will remain stable throughout the year or not?

A: There's nothing we can do about seasonal demand for game consoles. Demand is sure to rise when the launch date draws near. Honestly, I can't really say that sales will remain stable throughout the year. There will probably be ups and downs. Now that we are expanding our operations, we are in a generally favorable situation where our various business operations offset each other's ups and downs.

The following question mentions new game consoles helped turn around their operating income.

Q: MITSUMI turned its operations around in the December quarter and will generate 2 billion yen in operating income in the latter two months of the March quarter. Can I assume that the improved camera actuator business is one of the factors behind this turnaround?

A: There are many factors, including new game consoles. Since we looked at asset impairment with a focus on optical devices, performance should eventually improve in this area as well. One thing for certain is that sales of optical devices will bottom out in February and March as usual, so while we expect they will generate a profit, it won't be that big.

The following question, a Mitsumi representative mentions they employ a wide range of technologies in game consoles which makes it hard to pinpoint what they manufacture for the Nintendo Switch.

Q: You estimate that MITSUMI operations will generate about 5 billion yen in operating income next fiscal year. While game consoles have not really been a focus of your business, did they generate more of a profit than you had expected or just as you projected? Or was it asset impairments that made the difference?

A: I myself had never really considered taking a close look at game consoles and you too, I'm sure, must have had some reservations about their profitability. When I took a closer look, however, I found that game consoles employ a wide range of technologies, and MITSUMI possesses those technologies. It was an interesting discovery that opened the door to different business opportunities and game consoles pointed the way. I now have a totally different idea about game consoles. That goes for semiconductors as well and I'll talk about it in more detail this May.

The following question regarding inventory of products confirmed a new game console that launches in March, obviously that would have been the Nintendo Switch.

Q: MITSUMI's inventory increased from 43.6 billion yen at the end of September to 45 billion yen at the end of December despite inventory write-downs. Why is that? Is it due to an increase in products for new game consoles?

A: They increased their inventory of products for new game consoles in December quarter. Shipments of these products will begin in March quarter.

We still don't know what it is that they made for the Nintendo Switch though:

Q: Are they work in process or raw materials? In other words, did the increased inventory affect the profit gained from better capacity utilization?

A: MITSUMI stocked up supplied parts by charge in preparation for the shipments that will begin in March quarter.

That's all the information I have on Minebea Mitsumi, in their recent quarter they made a net profit of ¥14,181 (millions of yen) which should be $130 million if the conversion was correct.
____

I would add Nvidia but I don't know if they or Nintendo handle giving the orders to TSMC to manufacture the SoC for the Nintendo Switch. Nvidia will be releasing their quarterly earnings this week where we can see how much of their Tegra chips have sold. We know they separate the sales of Tegra chips from gaming and automotive so we can know how much money Nvidia are making from Nintendo.

In their last quarter, Nvidia made $332 million from Tegra chips of which $140 million of that amount was from automotive so Nintendo was responsible for somewhere upto $192 million for Nvidia's sales of Tegra chips.

 

[Bringer Of Bacon]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

 

[Mike Golf]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

This very insightful OP seeks to give context and further information regarding the manufacturing issues Nintendo is facing that have allegedly caused part of their Switch supply issues.

I mean, if you don't find it useful that's cool but why post that?

To the OP, thanks for putting this info together. It sucks that key components like the flash storage and display are in the hands of companies not doing so hot at the moment. For the display in particular we can only hope this will not adversely affect the quality and that if manufacturing eventually gets picked up by a seperate company that the same, if not better, standard will continue.

 

[ggx2ac]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

Would you like to read some click-bait brain-dead gaming articles instead?

This very insightful OP seeks to give context and further information regarding the manufacturing issues Nintendo is facing that have allegedly caused part of their Switch supply issues.

I mean, if you don't find it useful that's cool but why post that?

To the OP, thanks for putting this info together. It sucks that key components like the flash storage and display are in the hands of companies not doing so hot at the moment. For the display in particular we can only hope this will not adversely affect the quality and that if manufacturing eventually gets picked up by a seperate company that the same, if not better, standard will continue.

Thanks, I felt like compiling all the different reports so far on companies that Nintendo are involved with since it doesn't get followed that much that people might have missed some things happening to some companies compared to others.

 

[Caramello]

Sorry about that first post OP, you deserve better.

This is a good insight, thanks for the effort.

 

[inner-G]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

Never visited an NPD thread? :lol

 

[dacuk]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

You know you are not forced to read every (make it any) thread here, right?

Thanks for the info, ggx2ac.

 

[samred]

This is awesome and I hope expanded over time. Super interesting about WD. Thanks, OP.

 

[oti]

This is a great and interesting thread, OP. Thank you.

🤗

 

[JershJopstin]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

Wtf?

What is is? Some ignorant shitpost?

Thanks, OP. I had been wondering about some of this. Good to know that they have two sources of NAND chips, and that one of them is increasing production.

 

[AcademicSaucer]

Hopefully Japan Display being in trouble doesnt cause shortages for the Switch

 

[bumpkin]

Figures. Nintendo catches lightning in a bottle for the first time since the Wii and manufacturing issues are screwing over their supply chain.

 

[Daknight]

Nice info!! I didn't know the extra details about the toshiba/WD case, nor the whole nuclear construction that is what hurt toshiba O_O

Alps seems interesting, who else do they work with other than nintendo?

 

[Boogalogist]

This is actually great info! Looking forward to more like these.

 

[rudger]

So realistically, is there anything to worry about when it comes to the availability of Switch screens? I imagine JDI likes having Nintendo as a client since they currently have a popular product. But sometimes your hand is forced. Do other manufacturers make screens similar to JDI?

 

[SinCityAssassin]

Hopefully Japan Display being in trouble doesnt cause shortages for the Switch

The current order of 10 million screens for the Switch is already being manufactured, and I don't think the ramifications of the layoffs will be immediately felt yet. That being said, I'm sure Nintendo is watching the situation closely in case they need to come up with a plan b negotiation with another manufacturer.

 

[Madao]

interesting information.

one would assume the Switch doing well would improve each partner's performances but seems like things are a lot more complex. the Toshiba situation looks pretty messy.

 

[SinCityAssassin]

interesting information.

one would assume the Switch doing well would improve each partner's performances but seems like things are a lot more complex. the Toshiba situation looks pretty messy.

From what I recall Nintendo orders cheaper LCD screens from them, so even fulfilling such an order doesn't yield them as much money as Apple's contract would've given them, considering in the last years they accounted for 50% of the income.

 

[ggx2ac]

Thanks everyone.

Nice info!! I didn't know the extra details about the toshiba/WD case, nor the whole nuclear construction that is what hurt toshiba O_O

Alps seems interesting, who else do they work with other than nintendo?

We know Alps Electric makes electronic components and that they've had a relationship with Nintendo before regarding the N64DD and Rumble Pak as detailed in the neogaf link in the OP.

It's just difficult to find out their clients but that's probably a good thing for them. Since I am referring to when Imagination Technologies (the GPU supplier for Apple) had their share value fall down extremely due to the announcement that Apple were going to make their own GPU for the iPhone/iPad.

Wtf?

What is is? Some ignorant shitpost?

Thanks, OP. I had been wondering about some of this. Good to know that they have two sources of NAND chips, and that one of them is increasing production.

We knew from teardowns about the eMMC (NAND chips) where one unit had a Samsung eMMC as identified by Thraktor which was in a thread about Nintendo Switch long before it launched in March and then we found out about the Toshiba eMMC in Switch unit teardowns after launch.

 

[RayearthRob]

Wtf?
What is this? Some technical investing forum?

 

[Lizardus]

Can JDI rebound from this or will another company be contracted to manufacture the screens in the future?

Spoiler

Can Nintendo buy them, lol

 

[ozfunghi]

So... what stock do i buy OP? Alps Electric?

 

[ggx2ac]

Can JDI rebound from this or will another company be contracted to manufacture the screens in the future?

Spoiler

Can Nintendo buy them, lol

Well, they've had losses for three straight years and are losing the chance to be a supplier for Apple's iPhone 8 model...

Outlook not so good.

Regarding the spoiler, Nintendo has no benefit to buy JDI. They wouldn't be paying for just how much JDI is worth but also paying for the debts JDI has.

This is why Toshiba is trying to sell off its memory chip unit separate from the rest of the company because it doesn't come with the debts accrued by that nuclear investment.

In case it's asked, Nintendo doesn't have a spare ¥2 trillion lying around to buy Toshiba's memory chip business. The bidders have been groups of companies wanting to own a stake in the memory chip business because it costs a lot of money to buy.

So... what stock do i buy OP? Alps Electric?

Nvidia would have been a good idea a while back, I don't know if it's still going to grow.

Nintendo wouldn't be solely responsible for Alps Electric's financial gains since AE have a lot of different products.

Edit: Looks like someone took my post seriously when I didn't offer any good advice.

Ignore my advice. lol

 

[Bringer Of Bacon]

So... what stock do i buy OP? Alps Electric?

Please don't take investment advice from a guy on a video game forum. Please see your local certified financial advisor. For your own sake

 

[D.Lo]

Cool thread.

These are components, know anything about assembly?

 

[ggx2ac]

Cool thread.

These are components, know anything about assembly?

That would be Foxconn but the only references for the specific facilities are from Digitimes and they've had a spotty record for rumours.

 

[titiklabingapat]

Wtf?

What is this? Some technical investing forum?

This is forum where tons of insider industry info gets posted. The information presented in the OP is a lot more relevant than some 'lulz megaton betrayalton' that gets posted and get hundreds of pages.

 

[RRockman]

At least we have a thread to link to now whenever anyone talks about "intentional shortages" with the switch. Fantastic work OP.

 

[Gorilla Shark]

Cool thread OP!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Nvidia isn't going anywhere.

Manufacture of the Tegra X1 chips which are used in Switch are not on TSMC's most advanced process so yield isn't an issue either. TSMC has perpetual capacity problems at their smallest node but commodity manufacturing on older tech isn't an issue for them.

If you're looking to play NVDA you will be playing the most dangerous game with the share price at ATH just 2 days before an earnings report. It's an incredibly volatile stock, the past 2 earnings reports were both huge beats but the one in February resulted in a 30% drop in share price over a week and the one in May resulted in it running up to where it is today. If you're going to play NVDA earnings you better hold on to your butt, because this rocket ship is going to explode on the launch pad or be heading for Mars on Friday.

 

[E-phonk]

Thanks OP, usefull info. Especially the Toshiba part was new for me.

NAND seems to be their biggest problem at the moment, but JDI might be their biggest threat. I'm sure they are following this, especially with their current CEO.

 

[Astral Dog]

So many awful news 😢

 

[Andalus0880]

JDI deserves better than this. That screen they've outfitted on the Switch is damn beautiful.

Every time I fire up MK8Deluxe, I'm blown away by the fidelity they've achieved on a handheld and that crisp IPS display. And I hate handhelds. Switch really pulled off something miraculous here.

 

[DonMigs85]

Strange that they only have one display supplier. Have the likes of LG, Matsushita and AU Optronics stopped making 720p screens completely? Or they just wanted to source them from a homegrown company?

 

[HowZatOZ]

Strange that they only have one display supplier. Have the likes of LG, Matsushita and AU Optronics stopped making 720p screens completely? Or they just wanted to source them from a homegrown company?

Everyone is moving to OLED, which is why I presume Nintendo went with JDI because they got a good deal on it. I mean, the screen isn't the least of our worries in terms of supply really, it's the NAND chips that'll be the big problem but it sounds like Samsung might cover that supply issue with their investment into better production quality.

 

[Oresama]

This is like a Forensic Files episode of Switch parts manufacturers.

*Grabs popcorn

 

[ggx2ac]

I have added a new company to the list in the OP which I will also post here below:

Minebea Mitsumi

References: https://asia.nikkei.com/Markets/Tok...sumi-s-Q1-profit-seen-beating-market-estimate

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Deals/Minebea-Mitsumi-aim-to-become-more-than-sum-of-their-parts

(And other references linked in keywords below.)

Have you heard of Mitsumi Electric? Have you heard of Minebea? Then you probably haven't heard of those two companies that ended up merging into Minebea Mitsumi. What do they manufacture for the Nintendo Switch? I don't know. I can confirm that they are involved.

First, we'll go through their past histories. Before the merger, Mitsumi Electric was an electronic components manufacturer and they had only one big client, and that client was Nintendo.

According to this Wiki article, Mitsumi Electric manufactured Nintendo's console controllers from the NES to the Wii. Apparently they were involved in some capacity with Wii U hardware.

There is documentation that shows Nintendo is Mitsumi Electric's major customer. More past documentation can be found here.

What about Minebea? Before the merger, Minebea is known for manufacturing ball bearings and for having around 70% to 80% of market share in LED backlights. Surprisingly they have worked with Nintendo before, they made strain gauge force sensors which were used in the Wii Balance Board that let you play games like Wii Fit.

Onto the present, they've merged into Minebea Mitsumi. They've been making stuff for the Nintendo Switch but we don't know what, I've looked through their recent presentations and Q&A sessions, looking at their products, it is possible that they make the AC Adapters and USB Type-C connectors for the Nintendo Switch. But I don't know since I can't prove that. They do manufacture those things though. The LED backlights used in the Switch could be from them too since they have the largest market share in LED backlights anyway.

I looked through their last three quarters for presentations and Q&A sessions here and here. They haven't put up the Q&A for the latest quarter but the previous ones will tell you that they do work on the Switch and that they can't disclose what they do due to confidentiality agreements.

http://www.minebeamitsumi.com/engli...sure/presentation/p2017/p2017_qa04/index.html

The following question mentions confidentiality agreements.

Q: What should we make of Mitsumi's medium-term plan? How are its top products, such as game consoles, OISs, and VCMs, factored into it?

A: While I can't give you specifics about any of these products due to confidentiality agreements, in terms of projected sales under the medium-term plan, we expect camera actuator sales to remain flat. There will be ups and downs ranging from 1 to 2 billion yen depending on the year. We also made the estimates for game consoles very conservative. Actual results for this fiscal year should be much higher.

http://www.minebeamitsumi.com/engli...sure/presentation/p2017/p2017_qa03/index.html

The following question is about seasonal factors regarding demand for game consoles.

Q: Can you tell us how production of new game consoles will affect your bottom line? You said earlier that you can expect to make a steady profit, but there should be a big seasonal factor, differing from the seasonal factor affecting the LED backlight business. Should I assume that production will remain stable throughout the year or not?

A: There's nothing we can do about seasonal demand for game consoles. Demand is sure to rise when the launch date draws near. Honestly, I can't really say that sales will remain stable throughout the year. There will probably be ups and downs. Now that we are expanding our operations, we are in a generally favorable situation where our various business operations offset each other's ups and downs.

The following question mentions new game consoles helped turn around their operating income.

Q: MITSUMI turned its operations around in the December quarter and will generate 2 billion yen in operating income in the latter two months of the March quarter. Can I assume that the improved camera actuator business is one of the factors behind this turnaround?

A: There are many factors, including new game consoles. Since we looked at asset impairment with a focus on optical devices, performance should eventually improve in this area as well. One thing for certain is that sales of optical devices will bottom out in February and March as usual, so while we expect they will generate a profit, it won't be that big.

The following question, a Mitsumi representative mentions they employ a wide range of technologies in game consoles which makes it hard to pinpoint what they manufacture for the Nintendo Switch.

Q: You estimate that MITSUMI operations will generate about 5 billion yen in operating income next fiscal year. While game consoles have not really been a focus of your business, did they generate more of a profit than you had expected or just as you projected? Or was it asset impairments that made the difference?

A: I myself had never really considered taking a close look at game consoles and you too, I'm sure, must have had some reservations about their profitability. When I took a closer look, however, I found that game consoles employ a wide range of technologies, and MITSUMI possesses those technologies. It was an interesting discovery that opened the door to different business opportunities and game consoles pointed the way. I now have a totally different idea about game consoles. That goes for semiconductors as well and I'll talk about it in more detail this May.

The following question regarding inventory of products confirmed a new game console that launches in March, obviously that would have been the Nintendo Switch.

Q: MITSUMI's inventory increased from 43.6 billion yen at the end of September to 45 billion yen at the end of December despite inventory write-downs. Why is that? Is it due to an increase in products for new game consoles?

A: They increased their inventory of products for new game consoles in December quarter. Shipments of these products will begin in March quarter.

We still don't know what it is that they made for the Nintendo Switch though:

Q: Are they work in process or raw materials? In other words, did the increased inventory affect the profit gained from better capacity utilization?

A: MITSUMI stocked up supplied parts by charge in preparation for the shipments that will begin in March quarter.

That's all the information I have on Minebea Mitsumi, in their recent quarter they made a net profit of ¥14,181 (millions of yen) which should be $130 million if the conversion was correct.

___________

They seem to be doing fine but they will have trouble in the future. They are aware that OLED screens could end up making their large market share of LED backlights become very small because OLED screens are self illuminating, so they don't require LED backlights. They do make LED backlights for Smartphones with LCD screens just so people are aware.

 

[ggx2ac]

Bump, in case anyone missed my last post.

 

[Dark_3nergy]

Neat. Geez didn't realize a handful of these companies were having issues. Definitely a good read here. When I get a chance I want to read the Q and As a little later.

Hopefully things will work out for Nintendo. As I am sure they have businesses partnerships they can peruse if things go really south. You'd think they at least would have already started looking, given some of these reports.

 

[MatrixMan.EXE]

Figures. Nintendo catches lightning in a bottle for the first time since the Wii and manufacturing issues are screwing over their supply chain.

They haven't caught lightning in a bottle. They made a damn good console and actually read the market properly this time and it's paying dividends.

Good job on the thread though, OP. Some really nice context here. The research game is strong in this one.

 

[Nintendo's Witch]

Interesting read, thanks OP.

 

[ggx2ac]

I've been waiting for weeks for Minebea Mitsumi to translate their Q&A summary but it still hasn't happened so I decided to look at the original with Google translate and it seems clear enough what the questions and answers are related to Nintendo Switch.

http://www.minebeamitsumi.com/corp/investors/disclosure/presentation/p2018/p2018_qa01/index.html

The following is Google translated.

Are there any capacity restrictions regarding production of Nintendo Switch? No.

Q: Sales of the Mitsumi business are planned to increase from 48.1 billion yen to 60.7 billion yen from 1Q to 2Q, but if this is the main factor for game machines, it seems good to raise the sales of 2Q even more. Do you have any capacity restrictions?

A: There is no capacity restriction. Basically, we think that we can make it properly according to customer's request. Game machines and camera actuators are expected to increase the demand to 2Q in large quantities, and we are steadily preparing for that.

Sales revenue is forecasted to increase for 2nd quarter (July-September), increase is due to optical devices and Nintendo Switch, plans to increase production of Nintendo Switch.

Q: Sales of the Mitsumi Business are planned to increase by 12.6 billion yen from 48.1 billion yen to 60.7 billion yen from 1Q to 2Q, but what is the breakdown by product?

A: In 1Q and 2Q, principal factors are the fact that demand for optical devices, mainly OIS, will come into demand and plans to increase production of game devices.

Sales revenue from Nintendo Switch will have the bigger impact over optical devices.

Q: Which of them has greater impact?

A: I assume that the game machine is bigger.

Investors are reassured there will be no problems having to tackle the increase in production of Nintendo Switch.

Q: Although it is said that there is no problem with the capacity for game machines, we assume that demand is increasing considerably from the initial assumption. Please tell me what kind of effort you have made and as a result there are no problems.

A: The quantity has increased and the product itself has been changing from the conventional product, but the know-how cultivated from the past has been accumulated on the manufacturing site, and we have made various ingenious efforts. Although I can not tell you anything specific, I would like to understand that there is no particular problem as a whole, although it is necessary to reinforce the facilities necessary for this new product.

Go to this post here if you missed where I've shown that Nintendo is a major client for Minebea Mitsumi and the former Mitsumi Electric.

Note: Still don't know exactly what components they supply for Nintendo due to confidentiality agreements.

 

[v1oz]

Any new infor for 2021

I've been waiting for weeks for Minebea Mitsumi to translate their Q&A summary but it still hasn't happened so I decided to look at the original with Google translate and it seems clear enough what the questions and answers are related to Nintendo Switch.

http://www.minebeamitsumi.com/corp/investors/disclosure/presentation/p2018/p2018_qa01/index.html

The following is Google translated.

Are there any capacity restrictions regarding production of Nintendo Switch? No.



Sales revenue is forecasted to increase for 2nd quarter (July-September), increase is due to optical devices and Nintendo Switch, plans to increase production of Nintendo Switch.



Sales revenue from Nintendo Switch will have the bigger impact over optical devices.



Investors are reassured there will be no problems having to tackle the increase in production of Nintendo Switch.



Go to this post here if you missed where I've shown that Nintendo is a major client for Minebea Mitsumi and the former Mitsumi Electric.

Note: Still don't know exactly what components they supply for Nintendo due to confidentiality agreements.

Any new info for 2021? I know Mitsumi work as an OEM PC manufacturer. Many branded PC's come with keyboards, mice or optical drives that were actually made by Mitsumi.