Nintendo released their latest worldwide hardware and software sales figures. As of December 31st 2018, the Nintendo Switch has sold 32.27 million units worldwide; bringing it remarkably close to the N64’s lifetime sales of 32.93 million.
The third quarter of fiscal year ending in March 2019 (which includes the period between October 1st and December 31st), saw Nintendo ship 9.42 million Switch Units. Comparatively, 7.23 million units were shipped during the same period in the previous year. This equates to a 30% increase in Nintendo Switch sales during the holiday period year on year.
Nintendo of America’s president, Reggie Fils-Aime, told Yahoo! Finance in November that the holiday selling season was “critically important” to Nintendo. Strong software sales for titles such as Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! were likely a driving force for hardware sales during the period.
However, a strong holiday quarter couldn’t make up for a weak start to the financial year for the Nintendo Switch. As a result, Nintendo has revised their annual forecast for Switch sales from an overambitious 20 million to a more conservative 17 million units. To hit the new target, Nintendo still needs to shift 2.52 million Switch consoles in Q4 of the financial year.
News of the revised forecast didn’t seem to sway investors and Nintendo’s stock is currently trading 2% higher than market close on January 30th, 2019.
