Nintendo warns chip crunch could hit Switch supplies after sales soared amid the Covid-19 pandemic gaming boom
- Gaming has boomed during the Covid-19 pandemic, but a chip supply crunch is hitting console makers like Nintendo and Sony
- Nintendo sold 28.8 million Switch consoles in the 12 months through March, 2 million more than projected
Nintendo’s earnings beat estimates after hit games like Monster Hunter Rise propped up sales of the Switch, but warned that global chip shortages may disrupt production of its marquee device.
Nintendo’s better-than-expected results suggest the Covid-era boom in gaming that turned Animal Crossing into the world’s online town hall has legs. The Kyoto-based studio reported operating income of 119.5 billion yen (US$1.1 billion) for the March quarter, trouncing the average forecast of 68.3 billion yen.
It forecast 500 billion yen in operating profit this year, although Nintendo, like many Japanese companies, often begins the financial year with a conservative outlook so it has room to raise the figure later. The company is targeting sales of 25.5 million consoles in the current year ending March 2022. That is after selling 28.8 million Switch units in the prior financial year, surpassing the 26.5 million it projected.
President Shuntaro Furukawa told analysts Thursday Nintendo’s goal was to surpass its official goal of selling 190 million Switch software units this year.
