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Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

Nintendo's Q3 financial results (up to 31st December) are out, and there are some interesting snippets of information to digest. When it comes to adjustments to the company's full year estimates, meanwhile, it's mostly positive news.

Before we get into the numbers, here's some of Nintendo's official statement:

For Nintendo Switch, we will continue to convey the appeal of the three models and work to further expand the install base. Regarding software, Pokémon Legends: Arceus was released in January, and we plan to follow that up with the release of Kirby and the Forgotten Land in March. There is also a robust variety of appealing titles from other software publishers scheduled for release, and we will work to strengthen sales through the combination of existing popular titles and a continuous stream of attractive new titles.

In regard to business risk, the extended impact of both COVID-19 and the global semiconductor shortage creates a state of continued uncertainty, with the possibility of future impact on production and shipping. While these and other unforeseen risks exist, we continue to take all necessary measures in conducting business.

So what's the impact? Well, in its Q2 results Nintendo cut its Switch hardware sales forecast to 24 million, and it has now shaved another million off with an estimate of 23 million hardware units for the financial year. That's still an impressive figure, with the system officially passing the Wii's lifetime sales already.

Other aspects of its estimates are up, however. All variations of income and profit have increased estimates (ranging from boosts of 3.1% to 14.3%). Exchange rates are a factor, but tellingly Nintendo has also increased it software sales estimate by 20 million units, (from 200 mil to 220 mil), indicating the positive sales momentum it's seen.

As for the actual profit figures for the nine months included in Q3, they are below.

  • Net Sales - 1320.2 billion Yen (approx $11.5 billion USD) - down 6% on previous year
  • Operating Profit - 472.6 billion Yen (approx $4.1 billion USD) - down 9.3% on previous year
  • Net Profit - 367.4 billion Yen (approx $3.2 billion USD) - down 2.5% on previous year

All told they're not earth shattering adjustments, but are generally trending up despite that dip in estimated hardware sales.

We'll now see how the next few months shape up towards the full annual results.

[source nintendo.co.jp]