In brief: Earlier this year, Nintendo predicted that 2022 sales of its Switch handheld console could be impacted by the ongoing semiconductor shortage. Thus far, that's proven accurate. During the three-month period ending June 30, 2022 (fiscal first quarter), Nintendo sold 3.43 million Switch handhelds. That's a decline of nearly 23 percent compared to the 4.45 million units sold during the same period in 2021.
Breaking it down further, Nintendo sold 1.32 million standard Switch consoles in the most recent quarter compared to 3.31 million in the year-ago quarter. The new Switch OLED model made up some of the deficit with 1.52 million units sold (the OLED model wasn't available in the year-ago quarter). Sales of the Switch Lite fell more than 48 percent, from 1.14 million units last year to 0.59 million units.
Lifetime Switch sales now sit north of 111 million units, which is good enough for fifth in all- time game system sales behind the PlayStation 2, the Nintendo DS, the Game Boy / Game Boy Color and the PS4.
Software sales also took a hit during the quarter, dipping 8.6 percent year-over-year to around 41.4 million units. Nintendo Switch Sports was the best-selling game of the quarter with 4.84 million units sold followed by Mario Strikers: Battle League, Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at 1.91 million units, 1.88 million units and 1.48 million units sold, respectively. The sustained performance of the evergreen Mario Kart title - now more than five years old - continues to impress.
Nintendo said hardware production was impacted by the global semiconductor shortage, which led to a decrease in shipments and a subsequent decline in overall sales. That said, the Japanese gaming giant expects component procurement to gradually improve from late summer through the fall.
Looking ahead, Nintendo has a handful of anticipated games due out soon including Splatoon 3 in September, Bayonetta 3 in October and Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet in November. The company's forecast of 21 million consoles sold in the current fiscal year remains unchanged.
Image credit: Antonio Manaligod, Pixabay
https://www.techspot.com/news/95513-nintendo-switch-sales-dip-due-chip-shortage-but.html
