Incoming Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa officially assumed his new role following the company's 78th Annual General Meeting of Shareholders in Kyoto.Furukawa replaces Tatsumi Kimishima, who announced his retirement in April. Kimishima became Nintendo's president in 2015 after the death of Satoru Iwata. He oversaw the launch of the Nintendo Switch in March 2017, which managed to sell over 17 million units its first fiscal year.Furukawa joined Nintendo in 1994 and has served as outside director of the Pokémon Company since...
Nintendo
Shuntaro
Furukawa
President
Nintendo saw an exceptional uptick in sales for its Switch console in 2020 amid COVID lockdowns around the world, with quarterly sales for the 2017 system remaining up year-over-year into Q1 2021. Even as sales started to wane, the Switch has outsold new high-end consoles launched in November 2020 by Sony and Microsoft several times on a monthly basis as recently as August 2021, per the NPD Group. Under Furukawa, Nintendo also launched a new OLED Switch model in October, improving its handheld graphics amid unconfirmed reports that the company is working on a 4K upgrade as well. Likewise, Furukawa has voiced his desire to cement new IP alongside prominent franchises including “Zelda,” “Mario” and “Animal Crossing,” showing a willingness to expand the brand beyond its most familiar faces.