Nintendo reports all-time profit high of $4.5 billion in FY2021

Nintendo's FY2021 has broken records for profits, operating income, hardware and software sales thanks to astronomical overperformance of its Switch platform.

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Nintendo just enjoyed its best yearly earnings since its platform boom back in 2009. The company's FY2021 results saw a whopping $16 billion in net sales revenues, second only to FY2009's DS and Wii dream-team earnings. FY2021 broke new ground for operating profit with over $6 billion (+81%) earned, and net profits that hit a new all-time high of $4.53 billion (+85%).

The results were driven by hardware and software sales surges during one of the most unprecedented demand periods in the last decade. Consumers turned towards gaming as they sheltered at home against the coronavirus pandemic. Millions of people wanted to buy Switch hardware and demand led to massive stock restrictions.

As a result, hardware consistently rose to record highs every quarter throughout FY2021, eventually leading to over 28 million Switch sales. Software also saw a massive surge both in yearly and quarter-over-quarter sales; Nintendo moved over 230 million games across the Switch platform and made a huge $3.2 billion from digital sales.

Check below for key insights and graphs dissecting the data:

Nintendo FY21 Earnings At-a-Glance

• Net Revenue - 1,758,910,000,000 yen ($16 billion, +34.4%)
• Operating Profit - 640,634,000,000 yen ($6.042 billion, +81.8%)
• Net Profit - 480,376,000,000 yen ($4.53 billion, +85.7%)
• Second-highest net revenues in Nintendo history, second only to 2009's record highs during the Wii and DS era
• Largest operating profit in history of Nintendo's gaming segment
• Highest net profits in Nintendo history

Hardware

• 84.59 million Switch consoles shipped to date
• Fourth best-selling Nintendo product of all time
• $8.2 billion earned from HW in FY2021
• 28.83 million Switch units shipped in FY2021
• Record sales, shipments across yearly and quarter-by-quarter periods

Software

• 230.88 million games sold in FY2021
• Digital game sales made $3.2 billion in FY2021
• Record high for yearly and quarterly game sales, each quarter consecutively set new records
• Total software hits 587.12 million sales
• Switch is now third best-selling Nintendo product in game sales

Nintendo FY2021 Earnings Brief Coverage

• Nintendo's top 10 Switch games have each sold 10 million copies
• Switch hits 84.59 million sales and conquers Game Boy Advance
• Xboxes aren't profitable, but the Nintendo Switch certainly is