Nintendo Switch and OLED
Image: Damien McFerran / Nintendo Life

With the release of Nintendo's financial results for the fiscal year ending March 2023, the company has reported a slowdown in sales for the Switch after missing its original sales target of 21m and barely missing its revised target of 18m, selling 17.97m units between 1st April 2022 and 31st March 2023.

According to Bloomberg (and Japan Times), the Switch's sales are slowing down faster than previously expected. And in a call after the results were published, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa reportedly called this past holiday season disappointing. This year, Switch hardware sales declined overall by 22.1%.

For the fiscal year ending March 2024, Nintendo has lowered its forecast further, aiming to sell 15m Switch consoles. That's down a further 16.5% on FY22/23's sales. Analysts predict that despite major software releases such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom in FY 23/24, the Switch won't be able to bolster sales in the same ways as in previous years.

UBS Securities analyst Kenji Fukuyama believes that Nintendo's valuation "is very likely to shrink until the launch of the new hardware", but also predicts that the company won't be releasing it in the next fiscal year. So we're potentially waiting beyond 31st March 2024 for that Switch 2/Pro/new console.

The uncertainty around the console's sales is no surprise, as the Switch is entering its seventh year on the market, which is unprecedented territory for a Nintendo home console. It's already the third best-selling system of all time and Nintendo's best-selling home console.

But for the year ahead, Nintendo's first-party line-up is looking a little quiet. Besides Tears of the Kingdom's launch later this week and Pikmin 4 in July, we've got no other concrete first-party releases aside from DLC for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But knowing Nintendo, it's probably got a few surprises up its sleeve.

What are your thoughts on the Switch in 2023/23? Let us know in the comments.

[source bloomberg.com, via japantimes.co.jp]