Nintendo reported that its full-year sales for the fiscal year ended March 31 were $12.31 billion, up 9% from $11.30 billion a year earlier.
To date, Nintendo has sold 55.7 million Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite consoles, and 20 million of those were sold in the past year. Operating profit was $3.31 billion, up 41% compared with $2.34 billion a year earlier. Net profit was $2.43 billion, up 33.5% compared with $1.82 billion a year earlier. It was a strong year, and games in the Pokémon and Animal Crossing franchises helped drive the success.
Nintendo said that COVID-19 caused some production and shipment delay of the Switch, and there were delays as well with the Joy-Con controllers and Ring Fit Adventure accessory. But this had only a limited impact on business results for the year. And Nintendo said that while COVID-19 is unpredictable, it appears production and shipping are gradually recovering.
Meanwhile, Nintendo said that it has sold 17.37 million copies of Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield on the Switch. Animal Crossing sold 11.77 million copies (for the period ended March 31), which is the best start ever for a Nintendo Switch title. In addition, Luigi’s Mansion 3 and Super Mario Maker 2 also continued with steady sales. Nintendo and other Switch developers had 27 games during the year that sold more than 1 million copies.
The company previously upgraded its forecast for profits in the fiscal year ending March 31, thanks to strong sales of the Nintendo Switch and games that run on it.
Switch sales
As of March 31, the Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite have sold 55.7 million consoles to date, with software hitting 356.2 million copies sold as of March 31. The Nintendo 3DS has sold 75.7 million consoles and 383 million copies of software.
The Switch is far more successful than the predecessor Wii U, which only sold 13.56 million consoles and 103 million copies of software.
Nintendo also launched its Switch in China in December in a partnership with Tencent.
Full-year results
For the year ended March 31, Nintendo reported sales of $12.31 billion, up from $11.30 billion a year earlier. Operating profit was $3.31 billion, compared with $2.34 billion a year earlier. Net profit was $2.43 billion, compared with $1.82 billion a year earlier.
For the fiscal year ending March 31, 2021, Nintendo had a very conservative forecast of $11.29 billion in sales, an operating profit of $2.83 billion, and net income of $1.88 billion. Nintendo has $5.85 billion in cash.
Other details and forecasts
Hardware sales of the Switch and Switch Lite topped the forecast of 19.5 million units, coming in at 21.03 million units, up 24% from the previous year. Software sales were 168.72 million, up 42.3%.
3DS hardware sales were 690,000 units, and software sales were 4.99 million copies. For mobile, Nintendo’s IP-related income hit $480 million, up 11.5%.
For the forecast, Nintendo is worried that COVID-19 will lead to a global decline in production and consumption.
Upcoming games include Xenoblade Definitive Edition in May and Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics in June. In addition, Nintendo plans to launch The Isle of Armor for Pokémon Sword Expansion Pass and Pokémon Shield Expansion Pass by the end of June as the first-ever add-on content for the Pokémon series, and it will follow that up with The Crown Tundra in the fall.