As many other companies have done this week, Nintendo has released information about its financial results for the past quarter, ending in December 2019. This is actually the company's third fiscal quarter for the year 2020, and the company's numbers refer to the first three quarters of the year.
As far as finances go, the company had net sales of 1.02 trillion yen (roughly $9.37 billion), up from 997 billion yen ($9.15 billion) in the same period of last year. That resulted in 262.93 billion yen ($2.41 billion) of operating profit, which was also up from 220.029 billion yen ($2.02 billion).
Unsurprisingly, the positive results were mostly fueled by sales of the Nintendo Switch hardware, which has sold 17.74 million units in the current fiscal year so far, up from 14.49 million in the same period of the previous year. Comparing the results to the previous quarter, you can see that the Switch sold 10.81 million units in the three months ending in December. Of the 17.74 million units sold in the past nine months, 12.56 million were for the regular Nintendo Switch, while the new Switch Lite accounted for 5.19 million.
That places the hybrid console at over 52.48 million units sold in its lifetime, surpassing the numbers for the SNES, which sold 49.1 million in its lifetime. Microsoft doesn't provide raw sales numbers for the Xbox One, but back in October, the IDC estimated that the company had sold just under 47 million units, so there's a chance that the Switch is now ahead, despite being on the market for a much shorter period of time. Nintendo has also adjusted the sales forecast for the full fiscal year, and it now expects to sell 19.5 million Switches by the end of March, up from 18 million.
Software sales have also been doing well for Nintendo in the current year, with 16 Nintendo-published titles selling more than one million units so far. Pokémon Sword and Shield completely dominated the year despite releasing a month and a half before the sales figures were closed. The duo has sold a whopping 16.06 million units, making it the fastest-selling Nintendo Switch title yet. It has surpassed the previous Pokémon games in life-to-date sales, and is close to Super Mario Odyssey, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which have sold 16.59 million, 16.34 million, and 17.68 million units, respectively. The more distant leader is Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has sold 22.96 million units so far, 6.27 million of which were sold in the past nine months.
With titles such as Animal Crossing: New Horizons coming out in 2020, and rumors of a potential Nintendo Switch "Pro" sometime this year, Nintendo could be looking to maintain its sales momentum for the hybrid. The Switch is approaching the company's own Nintendo 3DS, which has sold 75.71 million units since it launched in 2011.
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