TOKYO, Japan – Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa declined to comment on plans for its next-generation console on Tuesday, as the company shared its latest sales results.
Furukawa insisted that the current Nintendo Switch iteration would be Nintendo’s “main business” heading into 2024. The company’s plan for the next fiscal year will be shared at its next earnings briefing in May.
Switch is now approaching its seventh year on the market, and the expectation is that Nintendo will launch a successor console later this year.
The current Switch has now cleared 139.36 million units, according to the company’s results for the three months ended December 31, 2023.
That means it has around 15 million units to go to surpass Nintendo DS’s 154 million, and only PlayStation 2 (155 million) has outsold Nintendo Switch outside of Nintendo’s consoles.
Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based game industry consultancy Kantan Games, highlighted that Switch sales continued to break convention for an ageing console.
During the three months until December 31, Nintendo reported an operating profit of ¥184 billion yen, slightly down on the same period last year but better than many analyst estimates. The company raised its forecast for console sales (up to 15.5 million from 15 million) and profit for the year accordingly.
This is unusually strong performance for a console reaching the end of its lifespan. However, Switch hardware sales are clearly in decline, especially in the major markets outside of Japan.
In Nintendo’s last fiscal year, Switch sales (17.97 million) declined by 22% compared to the previous year, and if it reaches its current target of 15 million for this year, that will represent a further decline of 13.7%.
In software, new titles like “Super Mario Bros. Wonder” and “Super Mario RPG,” the Switch remake of the SNES Square Enix classic, have seen strong sales.
The company also announced upcoming releases such as “Another Code: Recollection,” “Mario vs. Donkey Kong,” and “Princess Peach: Showtime!” in the coming months.