Nintendo holiday sales plummet to lowest point since Switch launch

Nintendo has reported its lowest-ever holiday net sales revenues in the Switch's lifecycle.

3

Nintendo's Q3FY25 earnings results show signs that the Switch lifecycle is gearing down. The company saw $2.76 billion in total net sales during the Holiday 2024 period (Q3'25 runs from October - December 2024), a new low for any holiday quarter during the Switch's lifespan.

The previous holiday quarter, Nintendo made $4.2 billion in net sales, but Q3'25's results show a -35% decline. Nintendo has since downwardly revised its full-year earnings forecasts, but it's worth noting that FY25 will not be impacted by the Switch 2. The new Switch 2 console is expected to launch in the second-half of 2025 and will instead be a part of Nintendo's FY26 period.

Nintendo CEO Shuntaro Furukawa put these numbers into perspective: "Although unit sales of both hardware and software in the third quarter declined year-on-year, sales have been stable given the fact that the platform is in its eighth year."

3

Nintendo Q3'25 results in USD

• Net sales - $2.76 billion (-35% year-over-year)
• Operating profit - $804 million (-38% year-over-year)
• Net profit - $819 million (-15% year-over-year)

Nintendo Q3'25 results in JPY

• Net sales - 432.91 billion yen (-27.6% year-over-year)
• Operating profit - 126.08 billion yen (-31.6% year-over-year)
• Net profit - 128.53 billion yen (-6% year-over-year)

Nintendo now expects to sell 1.5 million fewer Switch consoles throughout FY25, alongside 10 million fewer games. Hardware sales throughout the last 9 months are down 30.6%, Nintendo notes, and software is likewise down nearly 25%. This strongly indicates that the Switch console market could be saturated or that consumers are waiting for the new Switch 2 system before buying into the current ecosystem.