Nintendo Switch sales are down; may lead to eventual price cut

Source: Wallpaper Cave

The Nintendo Switch released six years ago debuting with a total of 1.5 million units sold in the first week of its release. Over the next several years the Switch would see many iterations and options to choose from. Nowadays you could buy anything from a Switch Lite, original Switch, to an OLED Switch. However, even with so many options and seemingly stable production, sales have been on the decline and Nintendo expects further declines throughout the next year.

The numbers

From March 2022 to March 2023, Nintendo saw a total of 17.97 million units sold. This was close to it's prediction of around 80 million units sold. However, compared to the year prior, these numbers are worrisome.

Over the course of March 2021 to March 2022, the Switch sold a total of 23 million units. This shows a 22% decline for the company. They are predicting more throughout the next year. (Context)

What's the problem

I think the problem doesn't stem from the incompetence of the Switch itself but rather a fierce competition. The PS5 and Xbox Series X are massive leaps for the console market and engineering. When met at MSRP, you can buy either console for around $500 dollars. That's only a $160 dollar difference when compared to the newest OLED Switch.

People are obviously opting for the more powerful consoles when the price of the Switch is close anyways. With an even bigger catalogue of games offered with consoles, you have a lot more wiggle room for the different genre of games you play on the console.

Another problem stems from the games sold on the Switch. Nintendo has been given a bad wrap for their "games as a service" model. This decline started with the game called 'Arms'. On launch it barely had any content in the game and was subjected to the mercy of content updates that should have been in the game on launch (Context).

Possible comeback?

I don't expect to see a comeback in sales for the Switch until we see some innovation first. Like I've said previously, people are opting for the next generation of consoles because of the features and games that are offered. With them even being similar in price (around 160 dollars more) you are getting more bang for your buck when buying a console over the Switch. Unless the Switch drastically reinvents the wheel of portable gaming, the Switch will see further decline in sales compared to it's competition.