Nintendo squeaks past Switch sales target but forecasts further slide

Illustrations by Alex Castro / The Verge

Nintendo shipped 4.11 million Switch consoles in the January-March quarter, just enough to meet its revised forecast of 23 million. Three months ago, the company's final forecast was 24 million units for the year. Nintendo blamed shortages of components for the 20 percent decline in the number of consoles shipped.

Nintendo has shipped over 100 million Switch consoles. It is the company's most successful home console, having recently overtaken the Wii, but it still has a long way to go to catch up to the Nintendo DS.

Pokémon: Arceus made a strong debut last quarter, with 12.64 million units shipped to date. The previous quarter's Pokémon remakes Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl had a debut of 13.97 million units and have now shipped 14.65 million units.

Nintendo predicts it will ship 21 million Switch consoles in the current fiscal year, which began on April 1st. The company's revenue and operating profit are expected to decline.

The first-party release schedule for the year includes upcoming Switch games. The sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is expected to be released in the spring of 2023.