Nintendo expects to sell fewer Switch game consoles in the current fiscal year, which runs through March. This is partly because the Japanese company is suffering from production problems with the popular console due to shortages of parts such as chips.
The sales forecast for the Switch was reduced by 10 percent to 19 million units. Also, the company sold fewer Switch consoles in the past quarter than a year ago, partly because of the chip shortage. However, the company says that the console’s production has improved since September and that it will be able to maximize deliveries during the critical holiday season.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said in an explanation of the company’s results that demand for the console “remains solid”.
The Kyoto-based company saw its operating profit rise to 118.7 billion yen from 100.2 billion yen in the same period a year ago. That was slightly higher than analysts had expected. However, the full-year operating profit forecast remained unchanged at 500 billion yen.
Nintendo did raise its forecast for net profit this fiscal year to 400 billion yen, citing the weaker yen and strong software sales as the main reasons. The Japanese yen has been at its lowest level against the US dollar for over thirty years. This benefits Nintendo as the company gets four-fifths of its sales outside Japan. In addition, the depreciation of the yen makes the company’s products cheaper abroad.
