Nintendo Switch Sales Surpass PS4, but Tougher Times Are Coming for Nintendo

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Nintendo Switch just leaped over both the Game Boy and PlayStation 4 and became the third best-selling console of all time. Nintendo saw 122.55 million units of sales as of the end of 2022. And all these numbers are coming from the recently announced earnings report.

So, does that mean that the Nintendo Switch is ahead of the PlayStation 2 and DS? Not really! It still needs to catch up on those two consoles. And although being the third-most-selling console is a great thing, it is the only silver lining in a darker cloud for Nintendo.

Outselling PS4 and Game Boy With Switch Did Not Make Nintendo See a Revenue Jump

Nintendo Switch unit sales for the nine-month period dropped to 14.91 million from 18.95 million. This comparison is from the sales count taken from December 2022 and 2021. And the company’s overall revenue saw a 5.6 percent decline for the fiscal year ending in March.

The same thing is true for game sales. It fell by 4 percent during the same period. Even with the new Pokemon Scarlet/Violet titles, which totaled an impressive 20.51 million units sold, Nintendo could not offset the decline.

Considering all this, Nintendo has lowered its fiscal year forecast to 18 million from 19 million units with 5 million fewer games. That is, it is continuing a downward trend from last year.

Nintendo attributed the decline to the ongoing shortage of semiconductors. The lack of consoles in the market is affecting software sales too. However, Sony has set a new sales record with the PS5, which is up by 82 percent year-over year. Yes, even with the shortage, Sony managed to sell 7.1 million PS5s in the last quarter.

Maybe, Nintendo Switch’s issue boils down to its aging hardware. As buyers are going for the latest OLED model, the standard Switch and Switch Lite models are declining. The Switch is also relatively underpowered than the PS5 and Xbox consoles.

Nonetheless, Nintendo said that the transition to its next console is “a major focus” to them. And it could start to make that transition pretty soon.