NINTENDO NEEDS A NEW CONSOLE SOON / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

Nintendo Needs a New Console Soon

The Switch is showing its age, and even Super Mario can only help so much

By Jacky Wong

Nintendo expects to ship fewer Switch consoles during the current fiscal year. PHOTO: KIM KYUNG HOON/REUTERS

Nintendo’s Switch is one of the bestselling videogame consoles ever, but it has begun to show its age. 

The Japanese game giant needs to quickly find a successor to satisfy gamers and its investors.

Nintendo shipped nearly 18 million of the consoles for the fiscal year ended March, bringing its total sales to 125.6 million units since its launch in 2017. 

That puts the home and hand-held console ahead of Wii, its previous runaway success. 

But the downward trend is clear: it shipped 22% fewer Switch consoles than the previous year. 

At the peak, it sold almost 29 million units during the fiscal year ended in March 2021, receiving a big power-up from stay-at-home gamers during the pandemic. 

The slowing sales are affecting its results: Nintendo said Tuesday that revenue for the fiscal year ended March fell 6% from a year earlier while its operating profit dropped 15%.

Sales will further decelerate the current fiscal year: Nintendo said it expects to ship 15 million units of the console. 

It also expects overall corporate revenue to drop around 10%. 

But achieving even this modest target won’t be easy. 

Nintendo might need to cut prices and release more megahit games to help sell the consoles. 

Fortunately, “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom” to be released this week will likely be an instant hit. 

The popularity of “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” at the box office will also provide a boost to earnings this quarter. 

The movie already has grossed more than $1 billion globally.

Ultimately, though, selling videogames is still Nintendo’s bread and butter. 

It will need to make the most of its Switch while it can. 

The company hasn’t indicated if it is going to launch a new console this fiscal year. 

Its Wii U, meant to follow up on the success of the Wii, was a flop that dragged on Nintendo’s results, spurring two consecutive years of losses. 

The encore to the Switch has to be compelling. 

More than most companies who want to keep the good times rolling, leveling up at Nintendo is fraught with peril and requires exquisite timing.