Following chip shortages, Nintendo Co Ltd sold 23 per cent fewer Switch consoles in the April-June quarter than the previous year, the company said on Wednesday.

The Kyoto-based gaming company predicted that procurement would rise “from late summer to autumn” and maintained its target of selling 21 million devices in the fiscal year ending March 31, 2023.

“Demand remains stable in all regions,” Nintendo said in a presentation.

Nintendo, the firm behind “Super Mario,” sold 3.43 million Switch consoles in the third quarter, down from 4.45 million the previous year. Last year, it sold 23.06 million units.

It expects its hybrid home/portable Switch device, which is in its sixth year on the market, will experience its second annual sales fall.

To increase interest in the system, the company released an improved Switch variant with an OLED screen in October.

First-quarter software sales decreased 8.6 per cent to 41.4 million units, while operating profit plummeted 15 per cent to 101.6 billion yen ($763 million), falling short of analyst expectations.

The weaker yen resulted in a 51.7 billion yen foreign exchange gain for Nintendo.

Investors are predicting the end of a gaming boom among consumers who were stranded at home during pandemic lockdowns.

Sony Group Corp reported a 15 per cent reduction in PlayStation user interaction compared to a year ago last week.

“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.

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

(Adapted from FinancialExpress.com)