Nintendo, a Japanese group specializing in the production of video games and consoles, today cut its sales forecasts for its Switch console and its video games, after disappointing sales achieved during the holiday season.
In detail, Nintendo now expects to sell a total of 18 million Switch units for the fiscal year ending in March 2023, down from a previous estimate of 19 million.
In addition, the Japanese giant said it also expects a decline in sales of the software units now estimated at 205 million units, against a previous estimate of 210 million units.
But not only that, Nintendo also cut its net profit outlook to 370 billion Japanese yen ($2.8 billion), from the previous 400 billion yen.
The company said the reason for cutting hardware sales expectations is because the Switch console “didn’t perform as expected” during the holiday season. To that effect, Nintendo sold approximately 8.23 million Switch consoles in the December holiday quarter, down approximately 22% year-on-year.
Another Nintendo issue is that its flagship Switch console is almost six years old, while Sony’s rival PlayStation 5 is just over two years old. Now investors are increasingly wondering when the company might release new hardware to boost sales.