Nintendo also reports sales decline as Switch hits 111m

Switch hits 111m, but hardware and software sales are down year-on-year

Nintendo hardware and software sales both declined year-on-year for the three months ended June 2022, which the company blamed partly on component shortages.

Hardware sales for Nintendo’s Q1 totalled 3.43 million units (down 22.9% year-on-year) and software sales totalled 41.41 million units (down 8.6%).

Net sales were also down 4.7% to 307.4bn yen. However, net profits were up 28.3% compared to last year at 166.7bn yen.

During the first quarter (April through June 2022), Nintendo Switch Sports (released in April) achieved sales of 4.84 million units, and Mario Strikers: Battle League (released in June) sold 1.91 million units.

In addition, titles released in previous fiscal years such as Kirby and the Forgotten Land sold 1.88 million units (for cumulative sales of 4.53 million units – a series record, according to Nintendo), and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold a further 1.48 million units (for cumulative sales of 46.82 million units).

Nintendo Switch sold a further 3.43m during the quarter (compared to 4.45m during the same period last year), for a life-to-date total of 111.08m.

Earlier this year Switch was already confirmed as the best-selling Nintendo home console of all-time, beating Wii’s 101.63m. However, it still has a way to go before it matches Nintendo DS’s 154.02 million units sold, and Game Boy (and Game Boy Color) at 118.69m.

Outside of Nintendo’s own consoles, only PlayStation 4 (116.6m) and PlayStation 2 (155m) have outsold Nintendo Switch.

The best-selling Switch games

*As of June 30, 2022

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 46.82m
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 39.38m
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 28.82m
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 27.14m
Pokemon Sword/Shield – 24.50m
Super Mario Odyssey – 23.93m
Super Mario Party – 18.06m
Pokemon Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl – 14.79m
Pokemon Let’s Go – 14.66m
Ring Fit Adventure – 14.54m

Nintendo’s latest financial results echo those of Sony, which also reported a decline in sales earlier this month, which it also blamed partly on component shortages as well as challenging post-pandemic-boom market conditions and a weak yen.

On Wednesday, Nintendo said it expected procurement of components to improve from late summer towards autumn. The company plans to release a new mainline Pokémon game and Splatoon 3 towards the end of 2022.

“For a 5.5-year old system, the Switch is still performing remarkably well,” industry analyst Serkan Toto of Kantan Games told Bloomberg. “Nintendo’s software pipeline for this calendar year is chock-full of blockbusters like Splatoon 3. I am not worried about Nintendo, at least not for 2022.”

Nintendo has stuck to its 21m hardware sales forecast for its current fiscal year, ending March 2023, representing a 9.8% decline from the previous year and a 37% decline from FY 2020. However, it should be noted that Nintendo is known for its conservative projections.

“Regarding Nintendo Switch, we will continue to convey the appeal of all three hardware models in order to maintain sales momentum and expand the install base,” it said.

“As for software, we released Xenoblade Chronicles 3 in July, and are scheduled to releaseSplatoon 3 in September, Bayonetta 3 in October, and Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet in November.

“Other software publishers also plan to release a wide variety of compelling titles, and we will work to invigorate the platform through the combination of existing popular titles and a continuous stream of new titles.”