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CEO Shuntaro Furukawa begins by explaining that while the shortage of semiconductors has prevented Nintendo from producing as many Switches as last year, demand remains similar and sales of the console to consumers are very close to last year’s level. Namely, more than 3 million Switches were purchased between July and September, as can be seen below. The explosive launch of Splatoon 3 (7.9 million copies distributed for 6.7 million copies sold as of September 30) greatly contributed to the sales of the machine, estimates Furukawa.
If Nintendo distributed 114 million Switches on the shelves at the end of September, the number of consoles installed in homes has for its part crossed the symbolic threshold of 100 million. And it’s obviously not over, especially since Switch consumers are distinguished by their ability to buy several copies for the same household. Over the current fiscal year, which began in April, Nintendo estimates that 30% of Switches purchased are additional consoles or replacement consoles within a household where the Switch was already present. In Nintendo’s ideal world, a household of four would buy four Switches.
“We offer three models to meet the entertainment needs of different lifestyles, and we’re seeing growth not only among consumers making their first purchase, but also among those purchasing additional systems or purchasing the Nintendo Switch – OLED model as a replacement system. As we continue to drive the appeal of the Nintendo Switch, we’re not just trying to put one console in every home, but several in every home, and even one for every person.“, comments Shuntaro Furukawa.
Having lots of consoles at home is good, but they still have to not stay idle. On this point, Nintendo is also satisfied since user engagement is up with 106 million active accounts over the last 12 months, compared to 92 million the previous year. Note that to be considered “active”, it suffices to have launched a game at least once. And of course, if the number of accounts is greater than the number of consoles present in households, it is because a Switch can be used by several players. “Over 100 million users have played Nintendo Switch software in the past 12 months, and we still don’t see a downward trend at present.“, welcomes the CEO.
Another data that Nintendo does not systematically communicate is that of the growth of Nintendo Switch Online subscribers. As of September 30, 2022, this subscription required to play online, save in the cloud or even access retro games, has more than 36 million members, compared to 32 million at the last census in November 2021. Important clarification, this figure includes users who belong to the service through a family subscription, which means that we are not necessarily talking about 36 million paying subscribers here, unlike the 45 million PlayStation Plus subscribers, for example.
The cartridge format is still popular on Switch. If Nintendo is undoubtedly less obsessed with dematerialization than the competition, it nevertheless points out that download sales represent 38.5% of all Switch games sold during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2022. For comparison , this figure is 66% at PlayStation over the same year. While dematerialization tends to increase over time, Nintendo acts as an exception because it is doing a little less well than in the previous fiscal year, the one of COVID-19 which saw Animal Crossing: New Horizons make a cardboard on the eShop. For the year ended March 31, 2021, Switch games sold for download thus represented a house record of 40%.
Finally, Nintendo emphasized the importance of the Nintendo Account in its long-term strategy. This account will allow the user to find his purchase history, his backups or his friends when the time comes to switch to the next console from the manufacturer. The latter has more than 290 million Nintendo accounts and recently announced the Nintendo Systems joint venture with DeNA with the aim of “maintain and develop its relationship with consumers, primarily through the Nintendo Account“, which passes in particular by “the creation of value-added services“, we are told.