Nintendo Cuts Its 20 Million Switch Hardware Sales Target Despite Incredible Holiday Season

Now aiming for 17 million

Nintendo has shared its Nine Months Earnings Release for the financial year ending March 2019, giving us plenty of insight into how the company is performing in terms of sales across all consoles and other forms of income.

Perhaps the most interesting news to come of the financial report is the fact that Nintendo has decided to slash its well-documented sales target of 20 million Switch units this year, now aiming for a slightly more modest 17 million. The report states that the updated target has been issued "based on sales status for the nine months ended December 31, 2018, as well as our future outlook".

That's not to say that Nintendo has had a bad year, though; the Switch shipped almost half of the company's initial yearly target in the holiday quarter alone - 9.42 million units, to be exact - and is fast approaching the 15 million mark for the year ending March 2019 (up from 12 million during the same period the year before). In terms of software, things are even more impressive, with new releases Super Mario Party, Pokémon: Let's Go, and especially Super Smash Bros. Ultimate all getting off to flying starts.

Elsewhere, Nintendo has also cut its 3DS hardware sales prediction for the year, falling from 4m to 2.6m, but has increased its Switch software sales estimates from 100m to 110m.

One final interesting tidbit shows that, during the holiday quarter, the Switch accounted for 90% of Nintendo's overall revenue, vastly outperforming Nintendo's 3DS and smartphone efforts.

Did you think Nintendo would manage to reach its 20 million target? Are you surprised by the success of Nintendo's holiday season? Share your thoughts with us in the comments.

Author Joshua