Nintendo cuts Switch sales forecast, blames semiconductor shortage
As console hits 114m sold, near Game Boy total.
Nintendo has reported a slowdown in Nintendo Switch console sales, and a slight reduction in its annual sales forecast.
Overall, Nintendo Switch has now sold 114.3m consoles worldwide, with another 6.68m sold over the last two quarters. 2.23m of these were of the original 2017 Switch, while Switch OLED sold 3.53m and Switch Lite sold 920k.
However, Nintendo admitted it had sold 19.2 percent fewer consoles year-on-year over the financial year so far - in part, it said, due to the ongoing semiconductor shortage. In response, Nintendo has cut its Switch sales forecast for the year from 21m to 19m consoles.
"While there is a gradual improvement in semiconductor and other component supplies and a recovery trend in hardware manufacturing for Nintendo Switch, taking into consideration production and sales performances thus far, we have modified the Nintendo Switch hardware sales units forecast for the fiscal year," Nintendo wrote.
Switch is now just 4m sales behind Game Boy, which sold 118m. Wii ended its life on 101m. Nintendo's top-selling handheld family, the DS, ended up on 154m.
Nintendo's game sales present a rosier picture, with the launch of Spatoon 3 in September becoming Nintendo's fastest-selling Switch release to date in Japan. It shifted 7.9m copies in its first month.
Nintendo Switch Sports sold 6.15m copies. Kirby and the Forgotten Land sold another 2.61m, for a total of 5.27m - which reportedly makes it the best-selling Kirby game ever.
The evergreen Mario Kart 8 Deluxe meanwhile sold another 3.07m, and is now up to an astonishing 48.41m sold.
For Christmas, Nintendo has the upcoming Pokémon Scarlet and Violet to swell its coffers. Fire Emblem Engage arrives in January.
Looking into next financial year, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom is still set for 12th May. Pikmin 4 has a 2023 placeholder date. Metroid Prime 4 and the delayed Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp are both still "TBA". Will next year see new Nintendo Switch hardware to go alongside these?