These days, we are seeing big companies reporting to their investors and customers with their quarterly reports. Nintendo did just this morning, and the results are not as bright as the Kyoto-based company had hoped.
Profit from the company’s operations declined by 70.6%, which is evidenced by a decline in both hardware sales, software (both first-party and third-party), and also in the mobile business and IP market. It’s not just a question of sales per se, as the company admits that the falling yen has hit them hard. Despite the poor results, Nintendo says in the report that forecasts remain “stable”, and that its first parties have had a good start to their lifecycle.
Focusing on the hardware side of the business, Nintendo was aiming to reach the 156 million Nintendo Switch family of consoles mark by the end of the fiscal year on 31 March 2025. But it hasn’t got off to a good start in this regard, having sold just 2.1 million consoles between 1 April and 30 June 2024, down 46.3% on the same period last year. This leaves a total of 143 million Nintendo Switch sold to date.
With such contradictory statements regarding the facts and figures, it is clear that this fiscal year will not be as bright as previous ones. However, the report reiterates that no changes will be made to the forecasts from the previous report on 7 May, so we’ll see if Nintendo has any tricks up its sleeve to attract enough gamers to make Nintendo Switch the best-selling console in history.