Nintendo Switch loses popularity – annual sales forecast reduced by 10%

Nintendo has announced a reduction in its operating profit forecast for the company’s current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. Now the manufacturer expects to receive 360 ​​billion yen ($2.36 billion), which is 10% less than the previous forecast. The announcement comes amid slowing sales of the Nintendo Switch handheld game console.

The Kyoto-based company sold 4.7 million Switch consoles in the first half of the current fiscal year. For comparison, during the same period a year earlier, 6.8 million consoles were sold. Along with the new operating profit forecast, Nintendo lowered its forecast for annual sales of Switch consoles by 7% to 12.5 million units.

At the same time, Nintendo continues to prepare for the launch of a next-generation portable console, which will likely be called Switch 2. Against this backdrop, the company’s research and development expenses have risen to record levels. Between April 2023 and March 2024, the company spent 137.7 billion yen (approximately $911 million) on these purposes, which is approximately 8% of Nintendo’s net sales for the entire fiscal year.