Hot Switch sales boost Nintendo sales, trim quarterly loss

FILE - In this Friday, Jan. 13, 2017 file photo, journalists wait outside the venue for the presentation of the new Nintendo Switch in Tokyo. Nintendo Co. says its new Switch, a hybrid game machine that works as both a console and a tablet, is selling well, helping the Kyoto-based company behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises trim its quarterly losses. Nintendo said Thursday, April 27, 2017, it has sold 2.74 million Switch machines and 5.46 million units of Switch software since sales began in March.(AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File) (The Associated Press)

In this Jan. 13, 2017 file photo, President of Nintendo Tatsumi Kimishima speaks during a presentation event of Nintendo Switch in Tokyo. Nintendo Co. says its new Switch, a hybrid game machine that works as both a console and a tablet, is selling well, helping the Kyoto-based company behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises trim its quarterly losses. Nintendo said Thursday, April 27, 2017, it has sold 2.74 million Switch machines and 5.46 million units of Switch software since sales began in March. (AP Photo/Koji Sasahara, File) (The Associated Press)

TOKYO – Nintendo Co. says its new Switch, a hybrid game machine that works as both a console and a tablet, is selling well, helping the Kyoto-based company behind the Super Mario and Pokemon franchises trim its quarterly losses.

Nintendo said Thursday it has sold 2.74 million Switch machines and 5.46 million units of Switch software since sales began in March.

The company's January-March loss was 394 million yen ($3.5 million), improved from 24 billion yen a year earlier. Quarterly sales jumped to nearly 178 billion yen ($1.6 billion) from 79 billion yen.

Nintendo has lagged amid competition from smartphones.

The company expects to sell another 10 million Switch machines in the fiscal year that ends in March 2018.