Although the Nintendo Switch didn’t hit the initial sales targets (but it’s not that far off from that goal, though!), the big N is hopeful.
NintendoLife noticed a quote from Nintendo‘s financial report. In it, Shuntaro Furukawa, the president of Nintendo (who previously said that the company might abandon making home consoles in the future!), explained why the previous 20 million fiscal year target (April 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019) for the Switch has been reduced to 17:
„As we look back so far (for this fiscal year), we now evaluate that our efforts to fully convey the appeal of Nintendo Switch hardware and software to the number of new consumers we originally hoped to reach were insufficient. And from the viewpoint of our full-year unit sales forecast for this fiscal year, while we expected that releasing titles during the holiday season would help to increase sales, the year-on-year sales increase during the first half of the fiscal year (April to September) turned out not big enough, which also affected the revision of the unit forecast as we looked back now.” In other words, the president said they didn’t make the Switch appealing, and the game line-up wasn’t strong (even though it was led by Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in December), which is why they set a more realistic target.
Variety pointed out a question about the declining Nintendo 3DS sales. (That makes sense, though: the console is eight years old by now) Furukawa responded by saying the 3DS is still an important platform for Nintendo as its low price point and accessibility makes it the first console for children (or an entry platform).
„Going forward, we aim to generate such demand among consumers as they feel like ‘I want to have my own Nintendo Switch console’ through measures such as software offerings. Not necessarily so that each person will have one, but so that each household will have multiple Nintendo Switch consoles,” Furukawa said. The goal is insane, no matter how we look at it.
Nintendo set the bar extremely high for itself. Can they pull it off…?
Source: DualShockers, DualShockers