Japanese Switch sales this fiscal year are tracking ahead of last year
Themed editions have helped boost sales of the near seven-year-old console
Japanese Switch sales during Nintendo’s current fiscal year are currently tracking ahead of last year.
Just over halfway through the company’s fiscal year ending in March 2024 (FY2024), Nintendo has sold 2.28 million Switch units in its homeland.
At the same time last year, it had sold 2.15 million units, according to data from market tracker Famitsu, which was published by Bloomberg.
As was the case with last August’s Splatoon 3 console, the launch of themed OLED editions has helped boost sales in Japan during Switch’s seventh year on the market, with notable spikes coinciding with the release of a Legend of Zelda console in April and a Super Mario console this month.
“The numbers they seem to be putting up are surprising considering it’s the same device with a different plastic cover,” Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu said.
Nintendo sold 17.97 million Switch consoles during its last fiscal year, taking lifetime sales to 125.62 million, a feat only bettered by its Nintendo DS handheld (154.02 million) and Sony’s PlayStation 2 (155 million).
Japanese sales of 4.37 million units accounted for 24.3% of total Switch sales in FY2023, compared to 4.98 million sold in Europe (27.3%),
6.97 million in the Americas (38.7%), and 1.65 million elsewhere (9.18%).
Nintendo expects to sell 15 million Switch consoles during the current fiscal year, which would represent a 16.5% year-over-year decline, and has said it will continue supporting the console with new games next fiscal year.
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Nintendo is yet to officially comment on plans for its next console. However, according to VGC sources, the company has dispatched Switch 2 development kits to key partners, with a launch planned for the second half of 2024.
The platform holder also showed off tech demos for its Nintendo Switch successor behind closed doors at Gamescom in August, it’s understood.
