What They Say
Nintendo said that it had sold 100 million of its Switch gaming console by the end of 2021 since it was released in 2017, and has now sold more than the Wii which sold 102 million in its lifetime. It got to this number faster than the PlayStation from Sony. Sales, especially of the OLED version, have been impacted by supply constraints although it plans to still ship 23 million units down from 25.5 million in its November plan in this fiscal year. In the period from April to December, it sold around 19 million consoles compared to 24 million in the same period a year ago.
The firm said last year that the Switch is “only in the middle of its life cycle as a game console”.
Separately, Protocol said that in the last quarter, Switch sales were 10.7 million vs just under 4 million for the Sony PS5. It also said that Nintendo’s profit is double that of Sony’s Playstation business in the 2021 calendar year.
Nintendo has not tried to compete as Sony and Microsoft battle for cutting edge big budget games and third party content.
“Our brand was built upon products crafted with dedication by our employees, and having a large number of people who don’t possess Nintendo DNA in our group would not be a plus to the company,”
President Shuntaro Furukawa said on an earnings call.
What We Think
I have young family members that are, and have been for years, completely besotted with Mario – Nintendo seems to know what it is doing in ‘hooking them young’. On the other hand, they are nearly all keen on Minecraft, too.
One of the features of the Switch is that it is easy to move and frequently family members have brought their Switch consoles with them for longer stays to keep the young ones entertained. (BR)
