Switch 2 'can't come soon enough' for Nintendo says analyst

A gaming expert said the release of the Switch 2 "can't come soon enough" after Nintendo revealed performance targets for the third quarter of the financial year fell short.

Its latest earnings report, covering October, November and December, showed Nintendo lowered its hardware sales forecast to 11m by the end of March, the second reduction in a row, and its operating profit was reduced by another 22 per cent to ¥280 billion ($1.8bn), reports VGC (Video Games Chronicle).

Total Switch sales have now passed the 150m mark but still sit short of the Nintendo DS (154m) and PS2 (160m) milestones.

Although this report does not take into account the announcement of the Switch 2, which was officially unveiled by Nintendo in January, a gaming analyst said the released of the new console "cannot come soon enough" for the Japanese video games company.

Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, a Tokyo-based game industry consultancy, told VGC: "It is now much clearer how Nintendo overestimated the life that is still left in the Switch at the start of the fiscal year. Nintendo now revised the hardware sales forecast two times and I expect them to miss even this lowered forecast.

"I'm not sure why they thought they would sell 14 million units this fiscal year with a very dry software slate. Switch 2 cannot come soon enough. I hope for them it is not scheduled for Fall, like not too few people believe."

Elsewhere in the world of Nintendo and the Switch 2, huge new games were confirmed for Nintendo by a top company CEO and other analysts have said Nintendo could struggle to cope with expected demand for the new console.

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