Nintendo Switch Photo: VCG

Japan's Nintendo Co Ltd sold 23 percent fewer Switch consoles in the April-June quarter than a year earlier following chip shortages, it said on Wednesday.

The Kyoto-based gaming company said it expected procurement to improve "from late summer towards autumn" and maintained its forecast to sell 21 million units in the year through end-March 2023.

Nintendo, the company behind Super Mario, sold 3.43 million units of its Switch console in the quarter, down from 4.45 million a year earlier. It sold 23.06 million units last year.

It forecasts the second annual sales decline for its Switch device, which is in its sixth year on the market.

The company last October launched an upgraded Switch model with an OLED screen to drive interest in the system.

First-quarter software sales declined by 8.6 percent to 41.4 million units, while operating profit fell 15 percent to 101.6 billion yen ($763 million), below analyst estimates. Nintendo booked a 51.7 billion yen foreign exchange gain from the weaker yen.

Investors are gauging the unwinding of a gaming boom among consumers who had been stuck at home during pandemic lockdowns.

Sony Group Corp last week reported a 15 percent drop in PlayStation user engagement compared to a year earlier.

"Gaming is now bigger than ever, and a certain part of users stay on, but the party is certainly now over," said Serkan Toto, founder of game industry consultancy Kantan Games.

Upcoming Nintendo games to support demand into the year-end shopping season include Splatoon 3, which will be released in September, and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in November.

Reuters