Per Nintendo’s earning report for Q1 2022, Switch sales had a whopping 23% decrease during the April-June period. Compared to last year’s spring records —4.4 million systems sold— Nintendo sold 1 million fewer products in the spring of 2022.
Related: Video games sales in Europe are down by 38% in July 2022
Game sales have also decreased, causing gamers to fear an incoming price rise in Nintendo Switch consoles. However, Shuntaro Furukawa, the president of Nintendo, has already put the community at ease by stating that Switch prices will remain the same for the time being.
Since its release in 2017, Nintendo Switch has been putting up great numbers in the sales department, especially at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic when people had to exercise social distancing.
The downside of the pandemic was that it created a shortage in parts as factories closed down and workers were unable to continue manufacturing. This need within the industry is still ongoing and is leaving companies unable to supply enough products compared to the demand from the public.
During an interview with Nikkei Asia, Furukawa explained the situation with these words:
”Keeping prices down isn’t giving us any trouble with procuring parts. The problem is that demand exceeds supply.”
He further explains that the price rise would not currently happen for two reasons. Nintendo does not wish to ”price people out’‘ and would like to keep thinking about pricing ”in terms of the value of the fun we offer.”
New Nintendo games are on the way to boost sales numbers
There has been a global shortage of chips and semiconductors lately, and some companies have decided to increase product prices as the manufacturing and shipping costs have gone up. Recently, Meta has raised the price of Meta Quest 2 by $100. On the other hand, Sony chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki has neither confirmed nor denied a potential rise in pricing for the newest-gen console, PlayStation 5.
Even though some of its competitors are increasing prices, Furukawa is confident that this period will not severely affect Nintendo. He believes that upcoming games will likely increase revenue for the Japanese company. Furukawa added the following comment:
“Switch is in its sixth year since its launch. All I can say is that we’ll try to keep up sales at the same pace. Having hit software also gives a boost to hardware. We have a lineup of new games that will allow us to take a crack at meeting our sales forecast, including Splatoon 3 coming out in September, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in November.”
He also mentioned that they are working with various business partners to ensure the provision of necessary parts for the manufacturing process of the Nintendo Switch. It’s also important to mention that they ”only have a clear production outlook for this year. Beyond that, things are uncertain.”
