Nintendo's Profit Skids

Japanese video game maker Nintendo recorded a slight drop in profit from April to December as it maintained strong sales of its Switch console games, Yuri Kageyama reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Nintendo, the Kyoto-based maker of Pokemon and Super Mario video games, did not provide a breakdown of quarterly numbers.

Nintendo Co.’s net profit in the first nine months of the fiscal year through March was 346 billion yen ($2.6 billion), down 5.8% 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 ($2.8 billion), from the 400 billion yen ($3 billion) it had projected in November. Previous fiscal year profit was 477.7 billion yen. This fiscal year’s nine-month sales totaled nearly 1.3 trillion yen ($10 billion), down 1.9% from a year earlier.

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