Switch
Image: Nintendo

Saying Nintendo did well last year would be putting things mildly. Having reached just under 80 million Switch sales, the Japanese company revised its expected profits to $5.34 billion and there's been talk about "rigorously" meeting demand for additional Switch consoles per household as Nintendo pushes further sales. However, selling multiple consoles to the same family isn't the only way the company plans to maintain momentum.

Following Nintendo's recent financial results, an investor Q&A conference call was published this week, helmed by Nintendo President Shuntaro Furakawa. Advised that "Nintendo Switch has entered the middle of its life cycle", he attributed console sales to newer games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons, also pointing out that 60% of software sales were thanks to Nintendo's back catalogue.

When asked about which areas Nintendo can further push console sales in, Furakawa replied:

Looking at population size... I think there is still plenty of room for new demand in the US and Europe, even more so than in Japan.

In addition, sales in the "Other" region, which includes Asia, are increasing with an even higher growth rate than Japan, North America and Europe, so we want to further expand these sales.

However, that also comes with an acknowledgement that there's "already many people in these regions who have purchased the hardware", so new strategies will be required.

Across this conference call, China was also a focal point. Having launched the Switch back in December 2019 through Tencent, it's since sold 1 million units. On the surface, that doesn't sound like much but, within a traditionally difficult market, Nintendo is now leading. Talking further about this, Furakawa states that they don't "discuss sales expectations in China" but attributed Ring Fit Adventure as a big driver. A sales boost around Chinese New Year is expected, but "not on a scale yet to significantly impact our business as a whole." Furakawa adds that, despite its success in China so far, building a solid market share in the region is "an effort that will take some time."

Finally, on the topic of the console hitting the middle of its life cycle (which suggests Nintendo expect Switch to last around eight years), Furakawa stated that the company is pretty confident that Switch will overtake the Wii in terms of total sales. The Wii – the firm's most successful home console – sold 101.63 million units during its lifespan.

Because Animal Crossing: New Horizons was a hit, many consumers became interested in Nintendo Switch, and that was one of the major reasons for the sales increase of the system. We are aiming to continue this momentum and increase the cumulative sales volume to overtake that of Wii.

Do you believe there's any key areas Nintendo could still capitalise on? Let us know in the comments.