• Games-maker hopes to revive numbers with new WarioWare and Pokemon titles
• Rival Sony says sales of its PlayStation 5 console remain robust
Japanese games giant Nintendo has admitted that sales of its signature Switch console slumped by more than a fifth in the second quarter of this year.
The news, which analysts say is a sign that demand for the hugely popular device may be fading, in its fifth year on the market, has left investors’ eyes on the firm, which is highly dependent on the cyclical console business.
Meanwhile, rivals Sony said on Wednesday that sales of its new PlayStation 5 remained robust, helping it post a record profit during the quarter.
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Nintendo, which saw sales of its Switch Lite units more than halve to 1.14 million, maintained its full-year Switch hardware forecast at 25.5 million units. It sold 4.45 million units of its Switch console, including the Lite, in the latest quarter.
The Kyoto-based games maker is hoping to revive Switch sales momentum with a new $349.99 Nintendo Switch OLED model that will be launched in October. It is also relying on a pipeline of popular games including WarioWare: Get It Together and remakes of Pokemon titles, to boost earnings.
SUPER MARIO
The creator of Super Mario and Animal Crossing posted a 17% fall in its first-quarter operating profit to 119.8 billion yen ($1.09 billion), missing the forecast of 129.3 billion yen by nine analysts, Refinitiv Eikon data showed.
It stuck with its full-year profit forecast of 500 billion yen, lower than an average prediction for 623.5 billion yen from 19 analysts, according to Refinitiv.
- Reuters and Sean O’Meara
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