Nintendo has reported slowing Switch sales and suggests no new hardware this year

Nintendo has reported a slowdown in Switch sales and has suggested that no new hardware releases take place before April 2024.

The company has now sold 125.62 million Switch consoles as of 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 had sold a total of 17.97 million consoles during the 12-month period, which meant it missed its start-of-the-year sales target of 21 million (and later revised target of 18 million).

The company expects it will sell 15 million consoles during the current fiscal year ending March 31, 2024, which is a further drop of 16.5%, as the Switch enters a significant slowdown during its seventh year on the market.

“Nintendo Switch has entered its seventh year since its launch, and while it will become difficult to maintain the same sales momentum as before, our goal is to get more consumers to continue playing Nintendo Switch for longer, resulting in increased sales,” he said in a statement.

Speaking on a call after the results, president Shuntaro Furukawa reportedly suggested that amid slowing console sales, Nintendo isn’t quite confident of hitting its next 15 million target.

according to bloombergFurukawa added that no new or upgraded hardware was taken into account in Nintendo’s annual projections.

“Maintaining Switch sales momentum is going to be tough in its seventh year,” Shuntaro Furukawa said via Twitter. bloomberg. “Our goal of selling 15 million units this fiscal year is kind of a stretch. But we’ll do everything we can to boost demand this holiday season so we can hit the target.”

Best selling Switch games

* As of March 31, 2023 (compared to December 2022)

1. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 53.79m (+ 1.79m)
2. Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 42.21m (+0.62m)
3. Super Smash Bros.! Ultimate – 31.09m (+0.55m)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 29.81m (+0.81m)
5. Shield/Sword Pokémon – 25.82m (+0.14m)
6. Super Mario Odyssey – 25.76m (+0.64m)
7. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet – 22.1m (+1.49)
8. Super Mario Party – 19.14m (+0.34m)
9. Super Mario Bros.! New U Deluxe – 15.41 (+ 0.66m)
10. Range Fit Adventure – 15.38m (+0.16m)

Slowing Switch sales comes despite two great releases during the fiscal year in the form of Splatoon 3 and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, both of which reported strong sales of 32.77 million.

And with the long-awaited The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom expected to be released this week, some analysts don’t expect hardware sales to pick up the way they have in the past.

“We expect Nintendo to not release next-generation hardware within the next 12 months,” UBS Securities said in a note ahead of the earnings report. “Nintendo’s valuation is very likely to shrink until the launch of the new hardware.”

Last year, the Switch was already confirmed to be Nintendo’s best-selling home console of all time, besting the Wii’s 101.63 million. However, it still has a long way to go before it matches the 154.02 million Nintendo DS units sold. Outside of Nintendo’s own consoles, only the PlayStation 2 (155m) outsold the Nintendo Switch.

The Switch has now shipped 1.036 billion games since its launch in 2017, which is more than any other Nintendo console (the DS comes closest at 948.7 million games shipped).

In its results for fiscal year 23, the Japanese company said its net sales fell 5.5% to 1,695 billion yen ($12.56 billion), and net profit fell 9.4% to 432.7 billion yen ($3.2 billion).

The company attributed the decline in Switch devices in part to a semiconductor shortage that affected production until around late summer, and a more flat sales season compared to the previous year.

Despite the hardware decline, Switch software sales remained strong at 213.96 million units for the fiscal year (down 8.9% year-over-year).

New Pokémon Scarlet and Violet entered 22.1 million copies in the 4.5 months to March 31, 2023, while Splatoon 3 shipped 10.67 million, and Switch Sports sold 9.60 million.

Additionally, among the titles released through the end of the previous 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.

“Looking at the programs, in addition to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in May, and Pikmin 4 in July, additional content is available for Pokémon Scarlett and Pokémon Purple in the form of The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Road,” the company said.

Part one of this additional content, The Teal Mask, is scheduled for release in fall 2023, and part two, The Indigo Disk, is scheduled for release in winter 2023.

“Other software publishers are also planning to release a variety of titles, and we will revitalize the platform by supplementing existing titles with a steady stream of new titles and additional content.”