Japan in great shape
A few weeks ago, several data from key markets like Europe or the United States seemed to show that the Switch 2 was less successful than the Switch in its time, over this specific period.
Nintendo was kind enough to address the subject during its interview with its shareholders (reported by IGN) following the publication of its latest balance sheet, and the manufacturer admits that “ overseas sales were slightly lower » to its expectations over the period of the last quarter. This is counterbalanced by sales higher than forecast in Japan (even if the console is cheaper there), which allows Nintendo to land on its feet and not change its end-of-year objective, which should logically be exceeded (it forecasts more than 19 million Switch 2s sold).
Nintendo does not elaborate more than that on the subject and obviously does not give precise data on the distribution of sales by territory. We nevertheless know that the Switch 2 was more timid than the first Switch of the name in France (during its first end-of-year celebrations), even if the success is still there.
What about an increase in the price of the Switch 2?
And while shareholders wonder if this shortfall abroad can be completely made up for by the Japanese market, the question of the price of the Switch 2 comes up again and again. CEO Shuntaro Furukawa had already stated a few weeks ago that Nintendo was not immediately planning an increase for its new console, while remaining attentive to the state of the market. Today he clarifies the group’s vision by indicating that the increase in components (such as RAM) has not negatively impacted Nintendo’s profitability in this last quarter, which is why no price increase is expected for the moment.
But that is the situation as it is today. The CEO says he is monitoring the state of the market, while specifying that if a price increase is decided, it will not necessarily come only from concerns around RAM (comments reported by VGC):
“ Price changes will be determined holistically, taking into account not only profitability, but also platform adoption rate, sales trends and market conditions. »
He specifies that the second and third years of marketing of the Switch 2 will be very important, which is why Nintendo is still very vigilant on the issue, even if it wants to avoid selling at a loss. Let’s hope this doesn’t change.