Because the successor is at the door, the demand for the discontinued model collapses: Nintendo collects the annual forecast.
The business figures for the 4th quarter of 2024 (October to December), which the Japanese video game group presented on Tuesday, are weaker than expected. Instead of expecting € 3.1 billion, Nintendo 'only accepts € 2.7 billion – the profit was also slightly below its own expectations at just under € 800 million.
In the past Christmas business, another 4.8 million Switch consoles were sold – a minus of 30 percent compared to the previous year. This adds up to 150 million pieces since the market launch in March 2017-the legendary Nintendo DS is in the immediate vicinity.
As a consequence, the declining switch demand is that Nintendo now assumes that fewer consoles of the current switch series than originally planned. For the current financial year (which ends in March), the management of 11 million is based instead of 12.5 million switch units-there are also corrections in the expected game sales (150 million instead of 160 million).
The reason for the luxury problem is to a certain extent homemade: Because since January 16, the official announcement for the Nintendo Switch 2 has been available – even if information about technology, price and time windows are missing for the time being. The market assumes a publication in the middle of the year, i.e. June up. The specific is for the upcoming edition of the format Nintendo Direct to be expected on April 2.
It is certain: Nintendo wants to make the transition to the successor console as seamless and smooth as possible. The Nintendo Switch 2 is therefore downward compatible, that is, the vast majority of Switch games also run on the new console.
The existing module stocks are huge. Unstable switch-bestseller is still Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (67 million pieces), which was also one of the best -selling video games across Europe in 2024. In places 2, 3 and 4: Animal Crossing: New Horizons (47 million), Super Smash Bros. Ultimate (35 million) and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (33 million). The only published in 2024 Super Mario Party Jamboree is 6.17 million games – The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom at 3.9 million units.
Apart from the Switch 2, Nintendo plans with among other things in 2025 Xenoblade Chronicles X (March 20), Pokémon Legend: ZA and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.
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