Unstoppable. Few other adjectives can be used to describe Nintendo Switch, which during the last fiscal year, which came to an end on March 31, managed to sell 28.8 million units, a year-on-year increase of 37.1%. The console has exceeded the company’s sales forecast, which in February was revised upward to 26.5 million units. After four years on the market, cumulative Nintendo Switch sales reached 84.59 million units.
Nintendo Switch sells 28.8 million units during its last fiscal year
Regarding sales by the model during the fiscal year 2021, Nintendo Switch managed to place 20.32 million units and Nintendo Switch Lite took the remaining 8.51 million. In both cases, we are looking at a year-on-year increase of 37%. Games benefited from these strong sales, shipping 168.72 million copies over the last 12 months, a year-on-year increase of 36.8%. Total Nintendo Switch software sales reached 587.12 million units.
Looking ahead to the next fiscal year Nintendo expects to sell 26.5 million Nintendo Switch. This means that the company considers that the console has reached its zenith, although this statement needs a couple of nuances. Nintendo is usually very conservative with its sales forecasts, so no one should rule out that they will once again be exceeded. On the other hand, Nintendo may have been restrained by the semiconductor shortage, the same shortage that is limiting PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series sales.
Nintendo has ordered its suppliers to increase Nintendo Switch production to 30 million units for the current fiscal year. We will see if some of these consoles are of a new model, which according to rumors will sport a 7-inch OLED panel and an Nvidia chip with DLSS support to offer 4K images when it is on its base. We should find out in the coming months.
Thanks to the good performance of Nintendo Switch, Nintendo’s financial results are exceptional. During the last fiscal year, the company posted revenues of 1,760 billion yen (€13.38 billion), up 34.4% from the previous year, and a profit of 480.3 billion yen (€3.65 billion), a year-on-year increase of 85.7%.
