Issued on: 10/05/2022 – 10:18 Modified: 10/05/2022 – 10:16
Tokyo (AFP) – Nintendo on Tuesday reported a solid net profit for the fiscal year to March due to the strong performance of its blockbuster console Switch, but published a cautious forecast.
Uncertainty over global chip shortages and potential production and transportation delays caused by the blocking of Covid-19 could affect future profits, the Japanese gaming giant has warned.
The company, which has benefited from a series of popular titles, including “Pokemon Legends: Arceus”, reported a net profit for 2021-22 of 477.7 billion yen ($ 3.7 billion), down only 0, 6 percent of the previous year.
But it expects a net profit for the current fiscal year of 340 billion yen, an annual decline of about 29 percent.
Nintendo’s profits were sent up by the boom in video game demand during the pandemic and the huge popularity of the Switch, which was launched in March 2017.
It also released Switch Lite in 2019 and Switch OLED, with improved graphics and memory, in October 2021.
Growth in sales of these consoles “demonstrates a good balance between each of the three models,” said Nintendo.
“As a result of stable performance across the entire hardware range, final sales amounted to 23.06 million units in the last financial year,” he added.
Nintendo said software sales also rose 1.8 percent the previous year to 235 million units, “making it the highest annual figure for software sales ever published for the Nintendo platform to date.”
Highlights include “Mario Party Superstars” and its three Pokemon titles. The most popular was “Pokemon Legends: Arceus”, which sold 12.6 million units in the last financial year, the statement said.
Supply chain problems
Hideki Yasuda, a senior analyst at Toyo Securities, told AFP that Nintendo was “doing very well”, calling the weaker yen and Arceus’ strong performance a “double benefit”.
But he warned that the company could be “incapable of producing hardware and unable to move products” as cargo ships wait in blocked waters near Shanghai as China tries to eliminate Covid-19. .
Nintendo said that “if Covid-19 hinders production or transportation in the future, it could affect product supply,” warning that production could also be affected by chip shortages.
Serkan Toto, an analyst at Kantan Games in Tokyo, said the Switch was key to Nintendo’s success.
“For the first time in more than 30 years, Nintendo is focusing on just one system,” instead of dividing its resources between different businesses such as TV consoles and portable gaming devices, he said.
© 2022 AFP
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