By Kosaku Narioka


Nintendo cut its annual projections for earnings and Switch console sales after posting weak results, underscoring the videogame maker's difficulty in boosting earnings without a new console.

The Japanese company behind Super Mario and Pokemon games said Tuesday that its nine-month net profit dropped from a year earlier as revenue fell due to lower hardware and software sales.

The Switch console, launched in 2017, was a runaway success for Nintendo, which has had a spotty record with hardware, but sales of the aging console are now firmly in decline.

Last month, Nintendo said it would start selling the successor to its nearly eight-year-old console this year, but it didn't reveal the price, the launch date nor specifications.

The company has said it plans to share further details in April. It has also said that the new Switch will come with exclusive games.

The stock dipped briefly following the January announcement that lacked details, but it has since renewed record highs, driven by market hopes that the new console will boost earnings.

Nintendo said Tuesday that net profit fell 42% from a year earlier to 237.19 billion yen, equivalent to $1.53 billion, for the nine months ended December. Revenue dropped 31% to Y956.22 billion as Switch hardware sales fell 31% to 9.54 million units and software sales declined 24% to 124.0 million copies.

The company now expects to sell 11.0 million Switch consoles for the year ending March, down from 12.5 million units forecast previously. It forecast selling 150 million copies of software, lower than its previous view of 160 million copies.

Since its launch in 2017, the first Switch has sold about 151 million units as of December.

Nintendo projected net profit to drop 45% to Y270.00 billion and revenue to decline 29% to Y1.190 trillion this fiscal year. It previously expected Y300 billion in net profit and Y1.280 trillion in revenue.

The videogame maker has been diversifying its revenue streams with some success, offering other forms of entertainment by leveraging its popular characters and game series.

Nine-month revenue from mobile and intellectual property-related income dropped 34% to Y49.7 billion due to a high base a year earlier driven by the blockbuster success of "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."

A new Universal theme park in Orlando, Fla., scheduled to open in May, is expected to host a new Nintendo-themed area.


Write to Kosaku Narioka at kosaku.narioka@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-04-25 0612ET