This morning, Nintendo reported its latest quarterly financial results to investors. The previous trend of weak Switch sales has continued: the hybrid handheld/home console sold only 2.62 million units this quarter, for a lifetime total of 146.04 million units as of September 30, 2024.
The quarterly Switch sales decreased by 10.58% year-over-year. A similar result was seen regarding quarterly software sales (39.6 million units), which dropped by 10.66% compared to last year's quarter. Out of the new games, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom has sold 2.58 million units, the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake sold 1.94 million, and Luigi's Mansion 2 HD reached 1.57 million.
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In this underwhelming quarter, Nintendo's operating profit went down by 29.07% year-over-year. Moreover, the company cut its forecast for the full fiscal year from 13.5 million Switch units to 12.5 million units:
Although Nintendo Switch hardware and software unit sales through the first half of the fiscal year were both below our initial expectations, many people continue to play with Nintendo Switch even in its eighth year since launch. For hardware, by continuing to convey the appeal of the Switch, we try to not only put one system in every home, but several in every home, or even one for every person.
Another objective is to continually release new offerings so more consumers keep playing Switch even longer and we can maximize hardware sales. For software, in addition to Super Mario Party Jamboree, released in October, we have other titles planned for release, such as Mario & Luigi: Brothership (November) and Donkey Kong Country Returns HD (January 2025). Other software publishers plan to release a wide variety of titles, and we will
strive to invigorate the platform by continually introducing new titles in addition to the existing titles.
We have modified the Nintendo Switch hardware and software sales unit forecasts for the fiscal year in consideration of the sales trend through the six months ended September 30, 2024.
Needless to say, analysts weren't exactly thrilled with the Japanese corporation's performance. Speaking to Bloomberg, Toyo Securities's Hideki Yasuda said:
The Switch is at the end of its shelf life, and even software sales are weak. If this trend continues, the Switch’s momentum will drop even further.
Serkan Toto of Kantan Games added:
Nintendo overestimated the appeal of their 2024 software pipeline, which has no real blockbusters but several filler games. Looking at the software still coming out this fiscal year, I believe the adjusted hardware and software sales forecast is still too high.