Samsung wants to make Switch 2 OLED panels, Nintendo may beat sales forecast by 5 million units

Samsung already makes the chips that power the Switch 2, but the Korean tech giant also wants to supply OLED panels for any future Switch 2 revisions.

Samsung wants to make Switch 2 OLED panels, Nintendo may beat sales forecast by 5 million units
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TL;DR: Samsung aims to supply high-quality OLED panels and manufacture the custom 8nm Ampere-based chips for Nintendo's Switch 2, enhancing production efficiency. This partnership could enable Nintendo to produce and ship up to 20 million Switch 2 units by March 2026, surpassing initial sales forecasts.

Samsung also wants to make high-quality panels for any potential Switch 2 OLED hardware that Nintendo may be working on.

Samsung wants to make Switch 2 OLED panels, Nintendo may beat sales forecast by 5 million units 40

It's been confirmed that the Switch 2's will use a custom chip built on NVIDIA's Ampere architecture, which is built on Samsung's 8nm process. In fact, NVIDIA's Ampere-based RTX 30 series video cards were built on this process, formally called 8N NVIDIA. The Switch 2's custom SoC (system-on-chip) will use this same 8nm process. But that's not the only thing Samsung wants to make for the Switch 2.

Samsung has expressed interest in securing a deal with Nintendo to make OLED panels for any successor Switch 2 OLED models, sources have told Bloomberg's Takashi Mochizuki. The report didn't mention that such a deal has been struck, however--only that Samsung had "pushed" for the opportunity. The original Switch OLED released in 2021 uses both Samsung memory and OLED panels.

Sources had also reinforced that the Switch 2 uses Samsung 8nm because the Switch 2's Ampere-based chip was specifically optimized for Samsung's 8N NVIDIA process.

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This shift in production to Samsung 8nm means Nintendo won't have to compete with other companies who are making chips on TMSC processes, which is said to help speed up production. Earlier this year, AB Bernstein predicted that Nintendo could produce up to 20 million consoles in the first year.

Now sources have told Bloomberg that Nintendo should be able to produce and ship that 20 million unit volume by March 2026, which would exceed Nintendo's own 15 million shipment estimate by some 30% or 5 million units.