Nintendo shares slide on reports of delayed Switch successor release

TOKYO (Reuters):  Nintendo (7974.T), opens new tab shares fell 6% on Monday after reports by games media and Bloomberg that its next-generation console will be delayed until early 2025 from later this year.

While Nintendo has not commented on plans for a successor device beyond saying that it is always working on new hardware and software, the Kyoto-based gaming firm is widely expected to be planning to launch a new device to succeed its aging Switch console.

The company raised the full-year sales forecast for the Switch earlier this month as the hybrid home-portable device continues to attract consumers even as it nears its eighth year on the market.

“We want to maintain the momentum of the Switch business,” Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa told an earnings briefing at the time.

The videogame company reported earnings earlier this month, and said it now expects to sell 15.5 million Switch consoles through the year ending in March, up from a previous forecast of 15 million. However, revenue fell 6% year over year.