The Switch will soon be entering the seventh year of its life, and while this would ordinarily be the time that a Nintendo console would be showing significant slowdown in sales, the Switch seems to show no signs of stopping down. As of the end of 2022, the console has shipped over 122 million units worldwide, and even though Nintendo has lowered its sales projections for the remainder of the fiscal year, reports are claiming that the company expects the Switch to enjoy healthy sales for at least another year.
It’s definitely uncharted territory for a Nintendo console- and that’s something that the Japanese company itself is obviously aware of as well. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa touched upon the same in a recent Q&A with investors (via VGC), acknowledging that it will be difficult to maintain the same pace of sales for the console going forward.
“We believe that we are now entering uncharted territory within our dedicated game console business,” he said. “Within this environment, it will not be easy to sell hardware at the same pace as before. As a result, we realize that our new challenge will be convincing consumers who are considering new purchases, replacement purchases, or additional purchases to pick up the Nintendo Switch.”
Furukawa went on to add that the company intends to attract more buyers through a combination of new releases and remastered versions of older games. “We believe that there will be opportunities for new customers to purchase our products by proposing both new and classic titles. We also believe that continuing the life cycle of the Nintendo Switch will lead to opportunities for additional software to be played by consumers. For example, during last December, Nintendo Switch total consumers hit a record high, and many continue to play Nintendo Switch.
“Therefore, it is integral to show the appeal of the Nintendo Switch through future software proposals to customers who are considering purchasing new hardware, replacement hardware, or additional hardware.”
Finally, Furukawa also touched upon the topic of price cuts, stating that currently, Nintendo has no plans to slash the Switch’s prices in order to propel sales further. “Regarding the Nintendo Switch [pricing strategy], we have done our best to maintain both its value and price of hardware and software in our long term business strategy,” he said. “We do not believe that any changes to this policy are necessary at this stage.”
Nintendo has previously said that it has no current plans to increase the Switch’s price either (the same can’t be said of the likes of the PS5 and the Xbox Series X/S), though that is something it could reconsider in the future.
Of course, given the slate of games scheduled to launch for the Nintendo Switch over the coming months, one would imagine that the console will continue to enjoy healthy sales. Metroid Prime Remastered, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, Pikmin 4, Advance Wars 1+2: Re-Boot Camp, and more are primed for the Switch in the next few months.
