Investor Briefing (Apr. 2017): Kimishima on Switch launch, games sales (Zelda, Snipperclips, more)

During the usual meeting with investors, which always follows the presentation of the latest financial results, Tatsumi Kimishima talked at great lengths about the launch of the Nintendo Switch.

He noted that the console is off to a great start, with strong demand in all regions where it was launched. Nintendo intially planned to ship only 2 million units for March, but they ended shipping 2.74 million units (+740 000 units). What’s more, the console was released in March, and it did quite well despite that (even compared to consoles launched during the holiday season).

Naturally, Nintendo is going to increase the amount of units manufactured, in order to keep up with demand (especially with the holiday period later this year):

To take advantage of Nintendo Switch’s momentum, we will be bolstering our manufacturing and improving our supply situation going into the holiday season.

Tatsumi Kimishima also reminded investors that the Nintendo Switch sold over 900 000 units in March in the United States, making it the highest-selling Nintendo Hardware in its launch month ever.

Next, the president of Nintendo showed the following graph:

It’s the results of a survey sent to My Nintendo members following the launch of the Nintendo Switch. It shows that the vast majority of people who bought the console were male (90%), and aged 19-34 (69%). There’s also a fair bit of interest for young users (aged 10 to 19), which is something Kimishima sees as a “as a sign of our expanding demographics”.

The second graph shows data from the same survey:

It shows that most people who bought the Nintendo Switch are planning to play it with other people (a survey from Europe saw similar results). Since the console comes with 2 controllers, it’s not surprising that “two” was the most common answer. It’s actually something Nintendo plans to take advantage of, in order to “encourage even more people from even broader demographics to play”.

For Tatsumi Kimishima, the great sales for the Nintendo Switch is proof that consumers around the world were able to grasp its concept quickly (something that didn’t happen with the Wii U).

He then moved on to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which received critical acclaim from both the press and players, and helped drive system sales. Combined, the two versions of the game sold over 3 million units worldwide.

On the Nintendo Switch specifically, the attach rate is near 90%, which is unprecedented. In fact, Nintendo even expects the sell-through to keep growing. Regarding the attach rate, Nintendo expects it will lead to a new sell-through record for the entire The Legend of Zelda series.

What’s more, it looks like a growing number of players who usually do not play on dedicated gaming platforms are purchasing the Nintendo Switch specifically to play The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild (or are showing interest in doing so). This is quite the golden opportunity for Nintendo, who is hoping to reach consumers who have never played a Legend of Zelda game before.

Regarding 1-2-Switch, Tatsumi Kimishima revealed that it’s almost sold 1 million units worldwide. The game generated quite a lot of buzz on the internet, especially with the challenge sent to Nintendo.

Finally, we get sales data for two other Nintendo Switch games:

• Snipperclips: Cut it out, together! – Over 350 000 downloads worldwide;
• Super Bomberman R – Over 500 000 units shipped worldwide.

Tatsumi Kimishima also mentioned “strong start” for various third-party titles, but did not specify which ones.

Source: Nintendo