Nintendo has reported a slowdown in Switch hardware sales and warned that no new hardware will be released before April 2024.
The company sold 125.62 million Switch consoles through March 31, up from 122.5 million, but year-end console sales are down 22%.
In its fiscal year-end results, Nintendo confirmed that it sold a total of 17.97 million consoles during the 12-month period, meaning it exceeded its sales target of 21 million at the start of the year (and later revised target of 18 million). has missed. .
The company forecasts that it will sell 15 million consoles in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, 2024, down another 16.5% as Switch enters a significant slowdown in its seventh year on the market.
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“Nintendo Switch has entered its seventh year since launch, and while it’s becoming more difficult to maintain the same sales momentum as before, our goal is to have more consumers play Nintendo Switch for longer, resulting in maximized sales,” the company said in a statement.
On a call after the results, President Shuntaro Furukawa is said to have hinted that Nintendo isn’t entirely confident of hitting the next 15 million target given the declining console sales. It also won’t be releasing any new hardware before March 31, 2024, he said.
“It will be difficult to maintain the sales momentum of the Switch in its seventh year,” Shuntaro Furukawa said via Bloomberg. “Our goal of selling 15 million units this fiscal year is a bit far-fetched. But we will do our best to boost demand well into the holiday season so we can reach the target.”
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*As of March 31, 2023 (compared to Dec 2022)
Furukawa added that no new or updated hardware is factored into Nintendo’s full-year guidance.
Switch’s sales slowdown comes despite two blockbuster releases during the fiscal year in the form of Splatoon 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, both of which posted strong combined sales of 32.77 million.
And with the highly anticipated The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom releasing this week, some analysts aren’t expecting hardware sales to pick up like they have in the past.
“We anticipate that Nintendo will not release next-gen hardware in the next 12 months,” UBS Securities said in a note preceding the earnings report. “Nintendo’s valuation will very likely shrink until the launch of the new hardware.”
Last year, the Switch was confirmed as the best-selling Nintendo home console of all time, beating out the Wii with 101.63 million. However, it still has a long way to go before it can match the 154.02 million units sold by the Nintendo DS. Outside of Nintendo’s own consoles, only PlayStation 2 (155 million) has surpassed Nintendo Switch.
Switch has now shipped 1.036 billion games since its launch in 2017, more than any other Nintendo console (DS is closest with 948.7 million games shipped).
In its FY23 results, the Japanese company said its net sales rose 5.5% to 1,695 billion yen (US$12.56 billion) and net income rose 9.4% to 432.7 billion yen (March 3). .2 billion US dollars) have fallen.
The company attributed the decline in switch hardware in part to a semiconductor shortage that impacted production until around late summer and a flatter holiday sales season compared to a year earlier.
Despite the hardware decline, switch software sales remain strong at 213.96 million units for the fiscal year (down 8.9% YoY).
New additions Pokémon Scarlet and Violet sold a whopping 22.1 million copies in the 4.5 months ended March 31, 2023, while Splatoon 3 sold 10.67 million and Switch Sports sold 9.60 million.
Additionally, among titles released through the end of the prior fiscal year, Fire Emblem Engage shipped 1.61 million, Bayonetta 3 shipped 1.07 million, Metroid Prime Remastered shipped 1.09 million, and Mario Strikers: Battle League shipped 3.109 million delivered.
“In terms of software, alongside The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May and Pikmin 4 in July, add-on content for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet is on the way in the form of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero,” so the company.
“The first part of this DLC, The Teal Mask, is scheduled for release in Fall 2023 and the second part, The Indigo Disk, is scheduled for release in Winter 2023.
“Other software publishers also plan to release a variety of titles, and we will work to invigorate the platform by complementing existing titles with a continuous stream of new titles and add-on content.”