Nintendo Says The Switch Is In The Middle Its Lifecycle

Nintendo today released its quarterly results, along with some year-overyear data for Switch and first party software. This revealed Nintendo’s view of the console at the mid-point in its lifecycle. 

Yesterday, both EA and Sony released their quarterly financial results so it’s no surprise Nintendo’s arrived today. Some might be surprised to learn that a new Nintendo console is still five years away.

“Switch is just in the middle of its lifecycle and the momentum going into this year is good,” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said during the results, as reported by Bloomberg. “The Switch is ready to break a pattern of our past consoles that saw momentum weakening in their sixth year on the market and grow further.” 

What Furukawa is alluding to is both extremely strong first-party software sales and the Switch’s steady growth year-over-year. The Switch was America’s best-selling console last year. However, 2021 wasn’t a good year for gaming consoles. It was the first full year for Sony and Microsoft’s new-gen consoles – the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S – and due to an ongoing chip shortage, both companies have struggled to meet the demand for those consoles. 

Perhaps they would have sold more than the Switch in 2021 if it weren’t for the chip shortage. The chip shortage is likely to continue driving growth for the Switch. It has been a difficult time for Nintendo, but finding a Switch can be much more straightforward than finding a PS5/X/S or Xbox Series X/S right now. Consumers looking for new games may also turn to Switch because they are able to easily find them. That’s speculation, of course, as we’ll never know what 2021 would have been like without a chip shortage. 

We still have many years to go with the Switch so why not take a look at some? Game Informer’sDo you have any favorite Switch games to play? Then, you can read Game Informer’sSwitch OLED review.

[Source: Bloomberg]

Do you want a Nintendo console? Or are you happy with your Switch right now? We’d love to hear from you in the comments!