Nintendo Switch sales halve as market awaits successor device

Japan's Nintendo said on Friday it sold 2.1 million Switch units in the April-June period.

That compared with 3.91 million units in the same period a year earlier.

Nintendo is eking out sales from its aging hybrid home-portable Switch console as it prepares to launch a successor device, with an announcement due in the current fiscal year.

The Kyoto-based gaming company maintained its full-year Switch sales forecast of 13.5 million units.

The company has a thin pipeline of titles announced for this year, with upcoming games including "The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom" and "Mario & Luigi: Brothership".

The industry is grappling with rising costs and weak pricing power, with Sony-owned developer Bungie announcing this week it is cutting almost a fifth of its workforce.

Nintendo's operating profit fell 71 per cent to 54.5 billion yen ($365.6 million) in the first quarter, below analyst estimates.