TOKYO –
Nintendo’s April-June quarter profit rose 28 percent from a year earlier on healthy demand for its games, even as sales of its consoles were weighed down by semiconductor shortages.
The Japanese video game maker, which is behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises, said on Wednesday that its profit for the latest quarter was ¥118.9 billion (US$895 million), up from ¥92.7 billion in the same period in 2021 .
Quarterly sales fell 4.7 percent to ¥307.4 billion (US$2.3 billion), according to Kyoto-based Nintendo Co.
Other game makers such as Sony Group Corp., car makers such as Toyota Motor Corp. and other manufacturers have suffered from supply shortages of the chips that drive most modern products.
While these supply chain disruptions are largely due to the pandemic, gaming companies have received a big boost in demand from COVID-19, which has kept people at home and turning to gaming for entertainment. With the easing of pandemic precautions, this spike in sales is disappearing.
Hit games also drive console sales, such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Among the games that were released and performed well in the last quarter were “Nintendo Switch Sports,” which sold 4.84 million units, and “Mario Strikers: Battle League.”
Previously released games with strong sales included Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Sales were also strong for digital download games.
Nintendo sold 22 percent fewer Switch consoles last quarter, at 3.4 million units, compared to the same period last year. Cumulative sales exceeded 111.08 million units.
The company expects to sell 21 million Switch machines for the fiscal year. More than 100 million users have played the Switch in the past year, according to Nintendo.
The company kept its profit forecast for the fiscal year to March 2023 unchanged at ¥340 billion (US$2.6 billion).
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