Nintendo 2Q net profit jumps from Switch Lite sales

Nintendo says its fiscal second quarter net profit rose by nearly a third on strong sales of software for its Switch Lite game console.

The company said Thursday that its net profit rose to 45.4 billion yen ($420 million) in the July-September quarter from 34 billion yen a year earlier.

Sales rose 23% from a year earlier to 271.9 billion yen ($2.5 billion).

Kyoto-based Nintendo Co. said it sold nearly 5 million Nintendo Switch machines in April-September, while sales of its handheld Switch Lite, which was launched in September, totaled nearly 2 million units.

The Switch is a hybrid game machine that works both as a console and a tablet. More than 40 million consoles have been sold since sales began about two years ago.