Nintendo Moves Systems Production To China
Nintendo’s planning to move all their system production to China by the end of the year in order to lower manufacturing costs. Already 90% of its production has shifted there since the GameCube’s launch in 2001.
Jan 09, 2003 - Nintendo Co. plans to shift most of its video game console production to China by the end of the year in a bid to cut labor costs, company officials said Friday.
The production of its popular GameCube will be completely moved to China, they said. About 90% of its production has already been shifted there since it was launched in 2001.
The Kyoto-based company has already moved 70%-80% of the production of its handheld Game Boy Advance to China, and Game Boy Advance SP, which will hit the domestic market in February, is being entirely produced in China.
They said Nintendo will retain some console production facilities in Japan to meet domestic demand, which usually becomes strong at the end of every year.
Global shipments of GameCube in fiscal 2002, ending March 31, may fall short of its target of 10 million units by about 1 million because domestic sales have been slow amid the depressed economy.
But those of Game Boy Advance are likely to clear the company’s goal of 15 million units, helped by the steady sales of the Pocket Monster series of game software, they said.
Source: http://www.n-philes.com/