Having prolonged the Switch’s lifecycle through successful titles like “The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom,” Nintendo’s focus is now on smoothly transitioning to next-generation hardware.
For the current financial year, Nintendo anticipates selling 13.5 million Switch units as it strives to maximize sales from its aging device.
The Kyoto-based gaming giant did not divulge further details about the new hardware, stating that no disclosures would be made at its upcoming Nintendo Direct presentation in June.
According to Serkan Toto, founder of Kantan Games consultancy, “Many users will now hold off on buying the current Switch as they anticipate the new model’s release sometime in 2025.”
In the previous year, Nintendo sold 15.7 million units of the hybrid home-portable device, which debuted in March 2017. In February, Nintendo raised its full-year forecast to 15.5 million units.
Despite ongoing annual declines in broader hardware sales, sales of the OLED model of the Switch saw year-on-year growth due to incremental changes made by Nintendo.
Nintendo expects its operating profit to decrease by approximately a quarter this year, amounting to 400 billion yen ($2.6 billion).
The company’s game lineup appears modest as it reserves heavyweight titles for its successor device, including “Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door” slated for later this month and “Luigi’s Mansion 2” in June.
Nintendo projects sales of 165 million software units this year, marking a 17% decline from the previous year.
When asked about market changes since the Switch’s launch, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa remarked, “Game development has become more sophisticated, long-term, and complex.”
For the fiscal year that ended in March, Nintendo reported a 4.9% increase in operating profit, amounting to 528.9 billion yen.
Nintendo’s shares closed 2.4% higher ahead of its earnings announcement and have risen by 5.4% this year following a recent period of decline.