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Nintendo Switch surpasses Wii with sales topping 100 million

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In front of the Nintendo Switch shop in a market, stands a cartoon Super Mario Bros. figurine. End of 2021, Nintendo Switch sales exceeded 100 million units.

Zhang Peng | LightRocket | Getty Images

The Nintendo Switch has sold more than the Wii console, however the Japanese gaming giant had to reduce its projections for the device due to a global shortage of semiconductors.

Nintendo has sold 103.54 million units of the Switch since its release in early 2017 — that’s just below the 101.63 million units of the Wii sold since its release in 2006. This company has ceased to produce the Wii.

The Switch has reached a major milestone, since the Wii was once of the most beloved consoles from Nintendo. However, the Switch is still behind sales of Nintendo’s original handheld Gameboy and subsequent generation Nintendo DS.

According to company, 18.95M units were sold in nine months, including the Switch Lite. It is a drop of 21.4% from the year before.

The company stated that 23 million Switch units are expected to be sold in the current fiscal year, which ends March 31, a decrease from the previous 24 million forecast.

Like many consumer electronics companies around the world, Nintendo has struggled with shortages of certain components.

Nintendo stated in a Thursday statement that “the outlook for semiconductors or other components has remained unclear since the start of these fiscal years and distribution delays remain unresolved,”

Nintendo is unable to produce sufficient consoles due to a shortage of semiconductors.

This cut follows a reduction of 11.5 million PlayStation 5 units by Sony, which on Wednesday reduced its sales forecast for the full year from 14.8million to 11.5million.

Digital booster

Nintendo posted revenue of 695.94 Billion Yen ($6.06 Billion) for its December quarter. This is a 9.6% increase year-on-year. Nearly 10% of operating profit rose year-on-year, to 252.6 trillion yen.

Although Switch sales have fallen, Switch owners are still purchasing games online. This is helping to increase revenue and profit.

In the December quarter of 2018, digital sales (which includes games downloaded and add-ons) reached 110.8 billion yen. That’s 31% higher than last year. This was due to the success of Nintendo’s first party titles, including Pokemon Shining Pearl, Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

Last month, Nintendo released a new game called Pokémon Legends: Arceus with further high-profile titles scheduled for later this year.

The Japanese gaming giant, Nintendo, revised its financial forecasts to reflect the strong software sales. Nintendo expects an operating profit of 560 Billion yen in 2020, up from the previous forecast of 520 Billion yen.

In addition, the company expects Nintendo Switch sales to rise by 220 million units, compared with 200 million in previous estimates.

Acquisitions?

Nintendo’s earnings are a result of high-profile acquisitions by its closest competitors. MicrosoftIt was suggested that $68.7 billion takeover of Call of Duty maker Activision last month. Days later, SonyTo agree acquire developer Bungie for $3.6 billion.

Both Microsoft and Sony are working together to expand their intellectual properties and increase the amount of original titles available. Nintendo’s long-standing record of creating strong characters, games and characters such as Mario and Pokemon has made it less aggressive to acquire them.

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said at a press conference that the company is not against deals, Reuters reported, but added: “It wouldn’t be a plus to suddenly bring in people who don’t have Nintendo’s way of thinking.”

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