Nintendo’s profit slips amid chip crunch

Japanese video game maker Nintendo recorded a slight drop in profit in April to December as it maintained strong sales of its Switch console games.

Nintendo Co.’s net profit in the first nine months of the fiscal year through March was 346 billion yen ($3.54 billion), down 5.8 per cent from 367 billion yen in the same period of the previous year.

Nintendo, the Kyoto-based maker of Pokemon and Super Mario video games, did not provide a breakdown of quarterly numbers. Among the games selling well were “Splatoon 3,” a paint-shooting game, “Pokemon Scarlet and Violet” and “Nintendo Switch Sports.”

Nintendo sold fewer machines compared to a year earlier, partly because a shortage in computer chips, a critical part for the console, due to disruptions from the pandemic crimped production, the company said.

Nintendo lowered its full fiscal year profit forecast to 370 billion yen ($3.78 billion), from the 400 billion yen it had projected in November. Previous fiscal year profit was 477.7 billion yen.

This fiscal year’s nine-month sales totalled nearly1.3 trillion yen, down 1.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Nintendo earlier was more bullish about its performance because an increase in people staying home during the pandemic boosted its sales.

That advantage is likely wearing off now that pandemic restrictions have eased and people increasingly are travelling and working outside their homes both in Japan and the rest of the world.

Cumulative Switch sales around the world have topped 122 million machines.