Nintendo Switch Sales Close In On A Major Milestone
Nintendo has delivered its latest round of financial results, and it would appear that Switch is still selling very well. Of course, it doesn't necessarily take a financial report to figure that out, as the Switch can still be difficult to find in some place. This continuing shortage is indicative of the Switch's success, with Nintendo reporting that it sold 1.97 million consoles in the three-month period ending in June.
That means the Switch is now very close to hitting a major sales milestone. With this recently-ended quarter's 1.97 million units accounted for, Switch sales now sit at 4.7 million worldwide. 5 million total sales is within sight, and given the Switch's popularity, it's possible that the console has already hit that milestone.
Switch software continues to do well, too. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which at one point was outselling the Switch, sold an additional 1.16 million units during the quarter, bringing its total up to 3.92 million. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and ARMS, which both launched during the quarter, sold 3.54 million and 1.18 million units, respectively.
READ MORE: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe review
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in particular seems to be selling very well, which could mean that we'll see more of these Wii U re-releases in the future. We've already got another one coming up, as Nintendo announced a Switch version of the Wii U fighting game Pokken Tournament ahead of E3 2017 last month. Fans seem to want a Switch port of Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, so don't be surprised to see Nintendo pursue such a re-release in the future.
On the 3DS side of things, hardware sales were pretty much steady year-over-year. Nintendo said that it sold 0.95 million 3DS units over the quarter, representing a 1% increase over the year-ago quarter. 3DS software sales were really the only thing that fell, dropping 31% year-over-year to settle at 5.85 million units.
That 3DS software sales dropped by more than 30% shouldn't be much of a surprise. Much of Nintendo's focus in the previous quarter was on the Switch, and as a result, there weren't a whole lot of notable releases for the 3DS. In fact, Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia was really the only big 3DS release, though 3DS software sales should rise again later this year with the release of Pokemon UltraSun and UltraMoon.
Nintendo's efforts in the mobile seem be going well, too. Nintendo said it pulled in 9 billion yen from mobile games like Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, representing at 450% increase year-over-year. Of course, during Q1 for FY 2016, Pokemon GO hadn't even been released yet, so Nintendo has certainly come a long way on the mobile front.
Perhaps most importantly, Nintendo actually turned a profit during this three month period, which is more than it can say for the year-ago period. Nintendo reported net sales of ¥154 billion and an operating profit of ¥16.2 billion. To put that in perspective, Q1 2017's revenue represents a 149% increase year-over-year.
The big question now is whether or not the Switch will hit Nintendo's goal of 10 million units sold. Nintendo didn't have any revisions to make to its sales forecast, which means that it still expects to hit all of the goals it laid down at the beginning of the fiscal year. Do you think the Switch can do it? Head down to the comments section and let us know!