The quake will eventually catch up on Nintendo. Warehousing costs money and most production to retail supply chains are designed to be "Just in time" in order to minimize costs. While you might want to warehouse a given amount of finished product so you can feed it to retail, warehousing components is not something you do. There is local factory storage, but that amount is always based on the assumption that every X day more will arrive. So if one part runs out, the whole production schedule goes out the window. You either stop work, or you slow down. This increases cost either way.
Most of the real technology found in the 3DS is made in Japan and cannot be sourced else where. Things like the
iPads, mobile phones, are already affected. This is done for a good reason. Japan and it's companies don't want their industrial technology copied by China, so only gives them the grunt work like plastic molding and assembly.
Until infrastructure is back up to speed, disruptions will continue. Remember that Nintendo isn't the only one using those port facilities. Japan has to import more fossil fuels to make up for lost nuclear power and the ports are one of the things that took a lot of damage especially the ones that handle oil.
I would say that Nintendo is understating their position as they just don't know what is going to happen as they don't own the supply chain or any part of it. I have no doubt even their suppliers are sure how many of anything they can make.
Their statement is actually contradictory, in the first sentence, they reassure that future shipments will continue. Then in the third sentence.
The company would not state if a continuation of the ongoing blackouts and fuel shortages would affect 3DS manufacturing going forward.
In fact your second sentence is wrong.
Umm, isn't this just overstating the obvious? Since the hardware is neither manufactured nor warehoused in Japan why would it be effected?
Everything of value is in Japan. You can't just get China to make plastic clam shells to sell off promising to fill in the parts in later.