Tuesday, February 6th 2024
Nintendo Switch Passes 139 Million Units Sold, Still a Top Priority in 2024 Says CEO
Nintendo has published its quarterly financial results for the period ending March 31 (2024)—the numbers indicate that their trusty Switch hybrid console has continued to sell surprisingly well, despite industry watchdogs anticipating a sharp decline in late 2023. A Bloomberg Japan report has extracted crucial information from an important corporate investor call—Shuntaro Furukawa, the current company president, announced another sales milestone. The Switch has reached 139.36 million units sold (as of 31st December 2023) since its original rollout back in March 2017—it has the potential to outsell Sony's classic PlayStation 2 home console. Nintendo's CEO adhered to his company's strict script and did not address the big red elephant in the (conference) room—the highly anticipated Switch successor is an industry open secret—instead focusing on the current iteration being their "main business" going into FY2024-2025.
Despite recent "better than expected" financial figures, the Nintendo Switch is on a sales decline (going back several years)—the gaming community expected improved hardware to arrive at some point before 2024, but the House of Mario is in no rush to take on current generation Sony and Microsoft home console models. Furukawa-san stated that Nintendo will discuss its plans for the financial future during a May earnings briefing—this is largely in line with past declarations, the "Switch 2" is not arriving before Spring 2024. The latest reports suggest that the next Nintendo Direct presentation is scheduled for next week—perhaps February 15. Microsoft's Phil Spencer has teased a major Xbox "business update" announcement within the same timeframe.
Sources:
Bloomberg, Eurogamer, Nintendo Life, Nintendo JP
Despite recent "better than expected" financial figures, the Nintendo Switch is on a sales decline (going back several years)—the gaming community expected improved hardware to arrive at some point before 2024, but the House of Mario is in no rush to take on current generation Sony and Microsoft home console models. Furukawa-san stated that Nintendo will discuss its plans for the financial future during a May earnings briefing—this is largely in line with past declarations, the "Switch 2" is not arriving before Spring 2024. The latest reports suggest that the next Nintendo Direct presentation is scheduled for next week—perhaps February 15. Microsoft's Phil Spencer has teased a major Xbox "business update" announcement within the same timeframe.
11 Comments on Nintendo Switch Passes 139 Million Units Sold, Still a Top Priority in 2024 Says CEO
only thing valve needs to do is continue to improve the os in the deck... and that will pull away from other competitors..
If they expect me to buy games all over again for the new console, I probably won't ever get it. I'm not starting over. The urgency I felt back in 2017 was the feeling I was getting home console gaming on the go. The Steam Deck OLED satisfies that now, so the only real compelling point would be giving me a larger, better screen with the newer unit in addition to more Nintendo games in the future (ie., Metroid Prime 4 in HDR).
I'm still thinking about letting the launch go by and getting an update and/or a sale price when more games are available. There's no, "Wow, how are they doing that!?" this time. I can't imagine them beating Steam Deck performance with their insistence on keeping fans silent and using Nvidia hardware from at least a couple years before they launch, so I'd be getting it for the improvement over my launch day Switch and the promise of being able to buy future titles in franchises like Mario, Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Zelda, Metroid, and whatever.
But I think the next Switch is going to be mostly just a Switch that runs games mostly around a PS4 level, which is fine enough but not enough to make me (or I bet many people) run out like they did for the Switch. I think Nintendo's really got a problem on their hands if they Wii U the Switch the way they Wii U'ed the Wii.
Like to see the sells regions break down.
The key is Nintendo knows something that people don't want to admit. Processing power and graphics aren't what matters. Gameplay is what matters. So Nintendo uses quirky low powered hardware that they can make a solid profit off and creates amazing first party games that are exactly what their customer base wants. But those games are also designed to fully use the hardware and show other developers how to go about it. They also focus on the form factor and interface. And... IT WORKS!
They've got a solid vision and business model and love their customers back. Which is more than you can say about a lot of companies.
2. What makes the Steam Deck good is that it doesn't use Windows!
it has some good games, like BOTW, which are wasted in such hw, 30 fps with drops to 15 fps is not acceptable in this day and age, unless you have no standards. Thankfully these good games play A LOT better in emulators, 1440p/4k, 60-120 fps, HDR mods, etc etc.
But the majority of games are really weak, only small kids and nintendo simps play that. The proof of that is how successful Palword has been - decent graphics, decent gameplay, putting the latest pokemon games to shame.
back to the topic, the switch should get a sales boost now that a new "homebrew able" cartridge has been launched
You're also wrong about who plays Nintendo games. There's plenty for older crowds as well and also if you get out of the NA/EU mindset on stuff you'll find that stuff like Pokemon (a game I can't stand at all) is played by adults in places all over the world and much loved.
I've got a switch, PC, and a PS5 along with all the little mini systems that got released. They're all good in their own way. If I had to choose one to keep it would be the Switch, if I had to choose one to give up it would be the PC in a nano second.