After numerous rumours of a cheaper Nintendo Switch revision set to release this year, Nintendo Co., Ltd. President Shuntaro Furukawa says there are no plans to announce any hardware at the E3 show in June.
The company also expect to sell 18 million Switch consoles this fiscal year (last fiscal year was 16.95) and 125 million Switch games (as opposed to 118.55 in the fiscal year ended).
Many thanks to Sam Nussey.
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After 13 years as President and COO of Nintendo of America and over 15 years with the company, Reggie Fils-Aimé is set to retire on 15 April 2019. Doug Bowser will become the next President of Nintendo of America. Bowser is currently the Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing.
Fils-Aimé says that “Nintendo owns a part of my heart forever. It’s a part that is filled with gratitude – for the incredibly talented people I’ve worked with, for the opportunity to represent such a wonderful brand, and most of all, to feel like a member of the world’s most positive and enduring gamer community. As I look forward to departing in both good health and good humor, this is not ‘game over’ for me, but instead ‘leveling up’ to more time with my wife, family and friends.”
Nintendo Co., Ltd. President Shuntaro Furukawa said “I really appreciate everything Reggie has done for Nintendo. Inside and outside our company, Reggie is known as an exceptional leader. We are grateful that he is leaving the business in good shape with strong momentum. While we will miss him and we wish him the very best in his retirement, we are also pleased to have such an able successor ready to step into that role. Doug Bowser and the rest of the team will ensure a seamless transition and continued momentum for Nintendo.”
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With over a 60% decrease on both Nintendo 3DS hardware and software on a year-on-year basis, President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about the coexistence of the two Nintendo videogame systems? Furukawa says that for many of the 2.31 million 3DS owners from the last year, that it’s “their first game system” and praises both its size and price.
Furukawa then goes on to say that there is still demand for parents to buy the system for their children, and Nintendo’s policy “is to proceed with both Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS in our dedicated video game platform business.”
Nintendo however have no first party 3DS games announced after the release of Kirby’s Extra Epic Yarn in March, and seemingly have no new games to announce. This year, they are focusing on evergreen titles like Mario Kart 7 (which sold over one million last year).
“For Nintendo 3DS, we will continue to leverage the platform’s rich software library and its hardware install base to further expand sales of evergreen titles.”
Furukawa’s plans to drive Nintendo Switch hardware sales is where “each household will have multiple Nintendo Switch consoles”. The size and price of the rumoured revised Nintendo Switch model (see this post for more) could definitely help this drive, and see the system finally replace the Nintendo 3DS.
Furukawa didn’t directly answer an investor’s question regarding a Nintendo Switch “at a lower price point or smaller size as such” though. But for 2019 at least, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo 3DS will both continue to coexist in the dedicated video game business.
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