Sales of the Nintendo Switch surpassed those of the Wii:
- Since its launch in 2006, Nintendo’s popular Wii console has sold 101.63 million copies worldwide. This contrasts with 103.54 million Switch sales since 2017.
- The sales forecast for 2022 has been lowered and 23 million consoles are expected to ship. This is one million less compared to last year.
- “The outlook for semiconductors and other components remains uncertain since the start of this fiscal year,” Nintendo said in a statement.
Recently, it was learned that the Nintendo firm’s Switch console outsold the popular Wii device. This is an important streak achieved by the Japanese manufacturer. However, the global shortage of semiconductor chips forces the company to cut its forecasts.
Meanwhile, it should be noted that the importance of this fact is the sales time. On that note, the Switch was only recently released in 2017. From then to now, sales have exceeded 103.54 million consoles.
At the other extreme, the popular Wii console, launched in 2006, has since sold 101.63 million copies. In this way, the difference is obvious, leaving the new console as one of the best creations of this Asian company.
Gray outlook for Nintendo despite high sales of the Switch
Despite the fact that the Switch console surpassed the Wii as the best-selling console from the manufacturer Nintendo, there is an unclear future. This is due to the worldwide shortage of semiconductor chips, which are essential for the operation of both computers.
In fact, chips are vital to almost any technological equipment today. Thus, from electric vehicles to microwaves, they require these tiny components. So indispensable have they become for the current technological era, that they are nicknamed “the oil of the 21st century“.
The growth in demand for these components is so high that it is outstripping supply. However, if this was a big problem, the situation was made worse by the pandemic, which caused a much bigger supply disruption than it already had. This fact caused delays in the launch of mobile devices, cars and many other devices of the latest model. Even Bitcoin miners suffer from this shortage.
Taking this scenario into account, it is understandable why the forecast does not look very attractive for the aforementioned video game console firm. As a result, even though the Switch outsold Nintendo’s other popular console, the Wii, the pace of sales is likely to suffer.
Sales will drop by more than a million consoles in 2022
Regarding the expected sales for fiscal year 2022, which begins at the end of March, the company expects a decline. Meanwhile, shipments would be about 23 million consoles, while in the fiscal year of 2021 it was 24 million. This scenario, as already highlighted, is the product of the shortage crisis of semiconductor components.
“The outlook for semiconductors and other components has remained uncertain since the start of this fiscal year and distribution delays have not been resolved. Therefore, production and logistics will continue to suffer the impact,” Nintendo said in a statement quoted by CNBC on Thursday.
In short, this indicates that although Nintendo’s new console, Switch, surpassed Wii in sales, the pace would slow down drastically. It should be noted that the Wii is no longer produced by this manufacturer.
Simultaneously, the other video game giant, Sony, is also in the same hole as Nintendo. According to the forecast of this company published last Wednesday, its sales estimates of 14.8 million PlayStation, were cut to 11.5 million.
Despite this scenario of losses, these are external factors that do not affect the prospects of these companies. On the contrary, online game sales continue to report strong gains, which means that the chip shortage is a temporary phenomenon that does not affect the potential of this sector in general terms.
