The Japanese company is reportedly lowering its sales expectations for the Nintendo Switch (selling exceptionally well) for several reasons.

Nikkei reported that it hopes to sell around 20 million Nintendo Switch units in the current fiscal year (which started on April 1, just a month ago). That’s a drop of 10% compared to the previous fiscal year (FY 2021) and 30% compared to FY 2020! In the last fiscal year, approximately 23 million Nintendo Switch units were sold (all three models are included, including the non-dockable Lite and the OLED model with a larger display and a beefier dock, in addition to the regular edition!), down from 28.83 million units sold in the previous fiscal year.

This year, Nintendo has already highlighted that they have shown a downward trend partly due to international semiconductor/chip shortages, and the big N is now looking to increase production. Animal Crossing: New Horizons also played a part: the Switch exclusive, released in March 2020, was undeniably a killer app for the platform, so it’s no wonder it also drove sales of the hybrid console.

According to Nikkei, the demand for Switch remains strong, so all is not lost. Aside from the chip shortage, the other issue that will affect production is Russia’s invasion and war against Ukraine, as it will cause significant outages in the international supply chain. The Nintendo Switch has already become the best-selling desktop console for the Japanese company, with 103.54 million sales by December 31, 2021. It already surpasses the Wii, which climbed to 101.63 million.

However, Nintendo has achieved even stronger sales with its handhelds, with the Nintendo DS becoming the company’s best-selling product with 154.02 million sales. It was followed by the Game Boy and Game Boy Color with 118.69 million. The PlayStation 2 remains on top with around 155 million units, and the PlayStation 4 shouldn’t be ashamed of its 116.6 million…

Source: VGC