Nintendo's flagship product Switch 2 saw a significant decline in sales during the fiscal quarter ending September 30, due to the Japanese gaming giant raising prices at a time when memory costs soared.
Nintendo stated that in the three months ending September 30, Switch sold 2.67 million units, a 41% decline compared to the same period last year. This figure is also lower than the 3.82 million units sold in the previous quarter.
In that quarter, Nintendo raised the price of Switch 2 in the United States, Canada, and Japan. Previously, the company had already increased the prices of its devices in the Japanese market earlier this year.
Memory is a core component of Nintendo gaming consoles, and currently, there is still a shortage in supply coupled with strong demand, which has driven the prices of related chips to rise to unprecedented levels.
Nevertheless, this Japanese gaming giant has maintained its previous sales forecast for Switch 2, predicting sales of 16.5 million units for this fiscal year. Nintendo's fiscal year ends in March 2027.
The following is a comparison of Nintendo's performance in the second quarter of this fiscal year with the average expectations of LSEG:
- Revenues: 448.2 billion yen (2.8 billion US dollars), with an expected figure of 481.37 billion yen.
- Net profit: 73.5 billion yen, with an expected figure of 82.16 billion yen.
Investors are looking forward to the release of future new products.
Although this company, headquartered in Kyoto, has released some well-performing games this year, including "Tomodachi Life : Living the Dream" and "Pok é mon Pokopia", the latter of which became unexpectedly popular, the company does not have any major new flagship titles.
Investors hope that the remastered version of "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" – one of Nintendo's most iconic games – will boost Switch sales in the coming weeks. The game was released on Thursday.
Kantan Games CEO Serkan Toto said to CNBC: "The only real big hit for Nintendo this fiscal year is the remastered version of 'The Legend of Zelda.' Especially considering that device prices are already so high nowadays, that's not enough to satisfy investors."
It's becoming increasingly difficult to sell gaming hardware nowadays; only hit games can drive sales. Nintendo must accelerate its efforts in the next fiscal year and release more blockbuster titles to ensure that the momentum of Switch 2 continues.
Nintendo also plans to launch new Pokémon games in 2027.
