While the Switch continues to sell at a crazy rate, Nintendo anticipates that the year 2022 will be less brilliant than the previous ones as explained by our colleagues from Nikkei.
It must be said that the context has not been particularly favorable to Nintendo in recent years. If the confinements that have marred the COVID crisis have boosted the video game sector, all is not rosy. Indeed, the explosion in demand for semiconductors has also put production lines in trouble. The Kyoto firm is no exception to the rule, and it has been particularly difficult to supply chips.
Nintendo Switch: stratospheric sales
In fact, with production problems, but also tensions on transport, the availability of the machine was not optimal, and Nintendo therefore missed sales. According to our colleagues from Nikkei, Big N expects 20 million machines sold for the current fiscal year. If the figure remains more than respectable, it is still a drop of 10% compared to last year, and 30% compared to 2020.
In fiscal year 2021, estimates indicate that 23 million consoles found buyers. This is therefore a drop of 20% compared to the year 2020 when Nintendo had sold 28.83 million Switches. According to the explanations provided by Nintendo at the beginning of the year, two factors come into play.
Rich people’s problems
Semiconductor supply problems are a primary cause, but the firm would like to point out that sales had been greatly boosted by the release of Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Indeed, according to Statista, sales of the game currently stand at 37.62 million units.
According to Nikkei, demand for the Nintendo Switch remains extremely strong, and the Kyoto firm would like to ramp up production as soon as possible. Unfortunately, chip vendors can’t keep up, while the transportation crisis doesn’t seem to be solving. Worse, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine also had disastrous effects by cutting off the supply of certain materials. In February, the Switch became Nintendo’s best-selling console with 103.54 million units (as of December 31, 2021), dethroning Wii’s 101.63 million.
