Nintendo 2017 fiscal year earnings results – Switch sales at 17.79 million worldwide
Today, Nintendo announced its full 2017 fiscal year earnings results. We’ll be rounding up all of the important pieces of information below.
Net Sales: (FYTD)
¥1,055,682 million (~$ billion),
115.8% increase YoY
Operating Income: (FYTD)
¥177,557 million (~$ billion),
504.7% increase YoY
Profit: (FYTD)
¥139,590 million (~$ billion),
36.1% increase YoY
Nintendo Switch
Hardware:
2.92 million for the quarter/
15.05 million FYTD /
17.79 million LTD
Software:
16.41 million for the quarter/
63.51 million FYTD/
68.97 million LTD
(Only counts Digital software that has a retail version)
3DS
Hardware:
0.54 million for the quarter/
6.4 million FYTD/
72.53 million LTD
Software:
4.39 million for the quarter/
35.64 million FYTD/
364.89 million LTD
Smart Device, IP related income:
¥10,219 million (~$ million) for the quarter/
¥39,320 million (~$ million) FYTD
Nintendo’s earnings share from Pokémon Go:
(Share of profit of entities accounted for using equity method:)
¥1,672 million (~$ million) for the quarter/
¥10,318 million (~$ million) FYTD
(For comparison, Smart Device, IP related income for all of FY3/2017 was: ¥24,250 million
Income from Pokémon Go for all of FY3/2017 was: ¥20,271 million)
Switch Hardware shipments WW LTD:
Japan – 4.38 million
The Americas – 7.14 million
Other – 6.27 million
– Switch hardware forecast for next fiscal year: 20 million units
– 3DS hardware forecast for next fiscal year: 76.53 million
The results for this fiscal year show a very positive trend in global hardware sales for Nintendo Switch, which sold a total of 15.05 million units during this fiscal year. On the software end, Super Mario Odyssey has been a major hit with audiences worldwide, and sold 10.41 million units. This is in addition to 9.22 million units sold for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and 6.02 million units sold for Splatoon 2, bringing the total number of million-seller titles during this fiscal year to 12, including the titles of other software publishers. The combined software sales results for this fiscal year reached 63.51 million units.
Nintendo 3DS hardware sales remained solid in each region even after the launch of Nintendo Switch, with sales during this fiscal year reaching 6.40 million units. For the Nintendo 3DS software, Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon sold 7.51 million units, while overall sales for this fiscal year totaled 35.64 million units.
Turning to our digital business for dedicated video game platforms, digital sales were very good, especially on Nintendo Switch, which brought digital sales (see note) to a combined total of 60.8 billion yen (87% increase on a year-on-year basis).
Meanwhile, the Super Nintendo Entertainment System: Super NES Classic Edition proved to be a hit in every region, with sales totaling 5.28 million units, and we grew amiibo sales compared to the previous fiscal year, with approximately 10.30 million figures sold, while card sales hit approximately 5.80 million units.
In our smart-device business, we released Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp during this fiscal year to join Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes, which have both been available since before the start of the fiscal year. These applications are being enjoyed by many consumers globally. Our smart devices and IP related income was 39.3 billion yen (62% increase on a year-on-year basis).
In total, net sales reached 1,055.6 billion yen (of which overseas sales were 794.4 billion yen or 75.3% of the total sales). Operating profit came to 177.5 billion yen. Ordinary profit was 199.3 billion yen, and profit attributable to owners of parent totaled 139.5 billion yen.
Consumers have been very receptive to the new concept introduced by Nintendo Switch as a home gaming system that they can take with them to play anytime, anywhere, with anyone, which helped it maintain its favorable momentum during this fiscal year. Looking ahead, we plan to leverage this momentum to reach an even broader range of consumers and expand the installed base of the hardware.
Specifically, we released Nintendo Labo in April as an offering of a new way to play, and then we are slated to release Mario Tennis Aces in June, as well as the latest entry from the popular series, Super Smash Bros. (temp.) within the year. We expect to release several hit titles from other software publishers as well. Then in September, we will begin offering the Nintendo Switch Online paid service to expand the online functionality of Nintendo Switch. Our goal is to take full advantage of the platform by continuously introducing compelling new software while further increasing sales of popular titles that are already in the market.
With Nintendo 3DS, we will continue to target an ever wider range of consumers. We will work to leverage the platform’s rich software library and worldwide total hardware install base of over 72 million units and further expand sales of evergreen titles.
Our smart-device business is poised to grow with the release of new gaming applications including Mario Kart Tour, alongside the applications consumers continue to enjoy that were released prior to this fiscal year.
Through these initiatives, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2019, we expect to see results of 1,200.0 billion yen in net sales, with 225.0 billion yen in operating profit, 230.0 billion yen in ordinary profit, and profit attributable to owners of parent of 165.0 billion yen. Unit sales of major products used in these forecasts can be found on page 15 under the heading “(4) Consolidated sales units, number of new titles, and sales units forecast” in the section titled “Others.” Exchange rate assumptions for the major currencies used in forecasting are 105 yen per US dollar and 125 yen per euro.
