Nintendo lowers forecast as Switch sales weaken

Nintendo reported a drop in earnings and a lower forecast for future quarters as the Switch hybrid console saw a slowdown in sales.

Nintendo has sold 14.9 million Switch consoles in the nine months ending December 31, up from 18.9 million a year earlier. To date, more than 122.5 million copies of the Nintendo Switch have been sold and 994 million copies of the software have been sold.

The Kyoto, Japan-based company now expects revenue to fall 5.6% to $12.06 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, compared to its previous forecast of a 2.7% decline. Net profit is expected to fall 22.5% to $2.8 billion. Previously, a drop of 16% was expected.

The company sold 172.1 million copies of Switch software in the nine-month period, up from 179.3 million copies a year earlier.

During the nine months ending December 31, Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet have sold 20.61 million copies.

Splatoon 3 sold 10.13 million copies and Nintendo Switch Sports sold 8.61 million copies. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 6.66 million copies and Kirby and the Forgotten Land sold 3.47 million copies. In total, 27 titles sold more than one million copies.

But Nintendo lowered its forecast of Switch software sales to 205 million units from its earlier expectation of 210 million units for the fiscal year.

Nintendo sold fewer machines, in part because it was short of semiconductor chips due to disruptions caused by the pandemic, the company said. More people are also traveling and doing other things than gaming. The global economic downturn may also reduce demand.

For the mobile and intellectual property businesses, royalty income was stable, but revenue from smart devices declined. So total revenue was down 2.3% year over year to $295 million.