On Thursday Nintendo announced that it had sold over the past fiscal year 28.83 Million Switch, and in total, as of March 31, the total shipments of the console exceeded 84.59 million… In the coming fiscal year, the company plans to sell another 25.5 million devices. If successful, the Switch will overtake the Wii to become Nintendo’s best-selling home console and fifth ever after PS4, GameBoy, Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2.
However, at a press conference following the publication of the report, the President of Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa admitted that due to a global shortage of semiconductors, the company cannot manufacture as many devices as it would like, and that there is a “growing sense of uncertainty” about production plans… The announced earnings forecast was based on the assumption that the company will be able to ensure the supply of components in the required volumes, and if the situation changes, the plan will be adjusted.
Furukawa said in mid-April that Nintendo was able to secure enough semiconductors for the Switch’s immediate production, but did not rule out the possibility of a console shortage this year in the face of continued high demand.
Semiconductor shortages not only affected Nintendo, but also affected Sony and Microsoft… According to the CEO Foxconn Yang Liu, the current situation may persist until at least mid-2022.
This week’s edition Nikkei also reported that Nintendo has approached supplier partners to increase production of the Switch to 30 million units this fiscal year in preparation for the launch of a new console model with improved graphics. The company did not comment on the publication.
As to why the Switch’s sales forecast for this fiscal year was more than three million units lower than the previous year’s figure, Furukawa explained that Nintendo considered the impact of explosive success Animal Crossing: New Horizons in 2023, which led to an increase in demand for consoles…
Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released on March 20, 2023 and sold in circulation in the first year 32.63 million copies, nearly double the number of top-selling Mario Kart 8 Deluxe console titles in the same period. The April 2017 reissue of Race is still the Switch’s top bestseller, but is now less than three million ahead of New Horizons.
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