As expected Nintendo has published its annual financial reports, and the initial documentation gives some sense of how strong the Nintendo launch has been. The sales in March have surpassed expectations, though the projected sales for this current financial year are perhaps best described as 'solid' rather than wildly optimistic.

To start with the March sales of Nintendo Switch, the initial stated target prior to launch had been two million units, but high demand prompted Nintendo to work on pushing extra stock into stores. Some estimates had placed sales nearer 2.4 million units, but Nintendo has confirmed that the official figure of shipped consoles in March was 2.74 million units, beating official and unofficial projections.

For this current financial year - 1st April 2017 to 31st March 2018 - Nintendo is estimating that it'll ship 10 million Nintendo Switch consoles, which would take the lifetime to date up to just under 13 million. This is below some of the bolder predictions of recent weeks. There are a couple of factors to consider - Nintendo may opt for a sensible number in order to manage expectations, or may expect some quieter periods in the financial year in which hardware sales slow down. To be clear 10 million units is a solid number, but below the 12 million+ units that 3DS would typically ship in a good year during its peak.

Time will tell on how Switch performs over the full year, but Nintendo can certainly justify being pleased about its launch results.