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Nintendo unveiled the Switch in March 2017, as what’s known as a hybrid console. While the Switch no longer has the best hardware on the market, with the Steam Deck and the newly launched Asus ROG Ally offering much faster performance, its shine doesn’t seem to be dimming.
Nintendo highlighted in its latest financial results that it sold 3.91 million units of its Switch console in the April-June quarter, exceeding sales in the same period a year earlier (Via Reuters). The increase in sales is attributed to the success of the latest Zelda title, The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which was released in May.
The Japanese company also credits the April release of The Super Mario Bros. movie with positively impacting sales of Mario-related titles.
Nintendo writes in its financial report:
The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (released in May) got off to a good start recording sales of 18.51 million units. The April release of The Super Mario Bros. Movie positively impacted sales of Mario related titles, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe recording sales of 1.67 million units (for cumulative sales of 55.46 million units).
Nintendo notes the overall sales reached $3.23 billion (461.3 billion yen), with 80.0% of that coming from sales outside Japan. Operating profit also came in strong, at $1.36 billion (185.4 billion yen).
Nintendo is also reportedly planning to launch a successor to its popular Switch console in the second half of 2024. Development kits for the unnamed console are already in the hands of “key partner studios,” and it is expected to include a portable mode similar to the current Switch.
The company may launch the new console with an LCD display to keep costs down. It could still include a cartridge slot, and come with more games than the Switch did when it first went on sale.