Nintendo moves Switch production outside of China to avoid trade war

Nintendo is partially moving production of its Switch portable gaming console outside of China in a move to limit the impact from a turbulent trade war between the U.S. and China, people who work on Nintendo’s supply chain revealed to The Wall Street Journal.

Factories in South East Asia is expected to take up the slack as Nintendo aims to produce enough consoles to keep up with U.S. demand, especially when the release of new Switch variants is expected to happen soon.

The Wall Street Journal reported in March that Nintendo planned to update the Switch this year with two new models. One is set to look similar to the current model with beefed-up components, while the other is expected to be a less-expensive model with a new look.

This indicates that Nintendo is likely to run a three-variant Switch line-up sometime later this year.

Last month, the U.S. more than doubled the rate of tariffs imposed on goods imported from China from 10% to 25%. The country is looking to impose tariffs on even more products that would likely cover smartphones, game consoles and computers.

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