Nintendo says it sold 23.06 million Switch consoles last year, expects sales to drop in fiscal 2022

Japan’s Nintendo played into the hearts of retail investors on Tuesday by announcing a 10-1 stock split effective Oct. 1, a long-awaited move that aims to improve liquidity in the video game maker’s shares.

The surprise announcement came as Nintendo said it expected to sell 21 million Switch game consoles in the fiscal year which started April 1, down 9% year-on-year and the second annual decline. , as the company grapples with component shortages.

Component shortages have continued this year and it’s unclear when they will end, Nintendo President Shuntaro Fukurawa told a press conference.

Demand for the Switch in its sixth year on the market was boosted by the November launch of a model with an OLED display, which sold 5.8 million units through March, but the upgraded device remains in short supply.

The Kyoto-based company’s stock split comes as a series of tech companies, including Amazon and Alphabet, Google’s parent company, have taken similar steps in recent months.

These splits are often viewed as positive for company stock prices, as the lower cost makes them more accessible to certain investors. Nintendo shares are up 5% year-to-date and closed flat ahead of its earnings announcement.

Nintendo sold 23.06 million Switch consoles in the fiscal year ending March. That compares to a forecast of 23 million made in February.

Nintendo, which depends on home titles to drive game sales, expects to sell 210 million software units this year, up from 235 million last year.

The company has a strong pipeline despite postponing the Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild sequel to spring 2023, with titles coming this year including Splatoon 3.

© Thomson Reuters 2022