Nintendo first-half sales leap on strong demand for Switch games

TOKYO: Japanese gaming giant Nintendo said Thursday its first-half sales jumped thanks to steady demand for its Switch gaming platform with the launch of its smaller, cheaper new console.

Sales for April-September gained 14.2% from a year earlier to 444.0 billion yen ($4.1 billion) while operating profit surged 53.4% to 94.2 billion yen.

The sales gain was partially due to the launch of Nintendo Switch Lite, a scaled-back, cheaper version of the popular console, in September.

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But net profit for the period fell 4.0 per cent to 62 billion yen "as a result of foreign exchange losses of 20.5 billion yen and other factors," Ninetendo said in a statement.

The Kyoto-based firm kept full-year forecasts unchanged. It still forecasts a 7.2 per cent decline in bottom-line profit with a 4.1 per cent gain in sales for the fiscal year to March 2020.

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The Switch has become a huge global seller, helped by innovative, family-friendly titles that have wowed critics and gamers alike.