Photo by Cameron Faulkner / The Verge
The Nintendo Switch had a relatively strong holiday quarter, with 10.67 million units shipped between October and December despite the global semiconductor shortage. That brings the system’s lifetime total to 103.54 million units shipped, meaning it took just under five years to overtake the Wii’s 101.63 million.
Shipments were still down nearly eight percent year on year, but Nintendo was clearly less affected by the supply chain issues than some others. Sony, for example, announced yesterday that it only shipped 3.9 million PlayStation 5 consoles in the same period. Nintendo also launched the new OLED model of the Switch last quarter and says it “got off to a good start.”
Nintendo did, however, further revise its forecast for Switch shipments down by one million units for the fiscal year. It now expects to ship 23 million, down from the 24 million projected in November, which itself was a downward revision from 25.5 million. Nintendo will need to ship just over four million units in the current three-month period to meet the new forecast.
On the software front, Pokémon remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl sold very well with 13.97 million units moved between them. Mario Party Superstars sold 5.43 million units, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD sold 3.85 million, and Metroid Dread sold 2.74 million, which is a strong result for the historically niche franchise.
Nintendo just released the well-received Pokémon Legends: Arceus, which should help boost software sales this current quarter, but the only other major first-party title on the calendar is Kirby and the Forgotten Land in March.