Nintendo discusses how it will keep Switch growing in year four and beyond
This information comes from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa…
Supported by a broad base of consumers, the Nintendo Switch business was able to continue to perform well in its third holiday season. March of 2020 will mark three full years since the launch of Nintendo Switch and the start of its fourth year of sales. According to the conventional wisdom for dedicated video game platforms, Nintendo Switch should be entering the midway phase of the hardware lifecycle. But we believe we have built a foundation on which we can pursue further growth opportunities for Nintendo Switch. This is premised on two points I want to touch on here, although I will not go into detail today about future development and lineup plans because it is in the nature of our business to value surprise in a good sense.
The first point is that we have introduced two styles of Nintendo Switch hardware that users can choose to match their lifestyle.
Over the course of our history, we have introduced a variety of models with different characteristics for each generation of handheld system, including Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS. In this way, we have been able to meet a wider range of consumer needs and expand the consumer base. With the launch of Nintendo Switch Lite in 2019 as a member of the Nintendo Switch family at a different price point and with different features, we are seeing new consumers purchasing Nintendo Switch for the first time, and also consumers who already own Nintendo Switch opting to purchase an additional system to make use of both systems.
This chart compares total sell-through of the Nintendo Switch family in Japan, North America, and Europe for April through December of 2018 and 2019. You can see that sales in 2019 of Nintendo Switch alone, shown in dark red, were close in scale to the sell-through of 2018, and that Nintendo Switch Lite added to the results to boost overall sell-through. However, we feel that we have not yet fully communicated the special features and appeal of Nintendo Switch Lite, so we will continue to address this going forward.
Regarding Nintendo Switch, we believe that it is important to continue to communicate the appeal of both Nintendo Switch systems and expand the installed base. Please note that we have no plans to launch a new Nintendo Switch
model during 2020.But as was revealed today in a separate announcement, a special edition Nintendo Switch with an Animal Crossing: New Horizons design will launch in Japan on March 20 on the same day as the game’s release.
The second point is that the focusing of development on he Nintendo Switch platform makes it easier to promote long-term software growth.
Previously, our dedicated video game platforms were separated into home consoles and handheld systems. Some consumers chose to play both, while others chose one or the other, based on the different kinds of games available. By taking unique approaches with software, making use of the different characteristics of home consoles and handheld systems, many consumers enjoyed playing each kind of system, for example playing Wii Sports and Wii Fit on the Wii, and the Brain Training series and nintendogs on the Nintendo DS.
Nintendo Switch adds tabletop mode to the TV mode and handheld mode that are characteristic to home consoles and to handheld systems, respectively. This has led to variations not only in gameplay, but in opportunities to play, resulting in a wider world of unique entertainment that is different from the situation and environment of past hardware.
