Nintendo reports jump in earnings thanks to Switch

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Nintendo Co. said Tuesday that its quarterly profit jumped 44 percent in the fiscal first quarter thanks to increased sales of Nintendo Switch game titles.

The Japanese maker of Super Mario and Pokemon games said its net profit totaled 30.6 billion yen ($274.9 million) during the April-June period, compared with 21.3 billion yen a year earlier.

Quarterly sales rose 9 percent to 168.2 billion yen ($1.5 billion) over a year earlier while operating profit surged 88 percent to 30.5 billion yen ($274 million).

Kyoto-based Nintendo credited new game titles for Nintendo Switch for profit growth. One of the new titles, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, has sold 1.4 million units worldwide since May.

The Switch is a hybrid game machine that works both as a console and a tablet.

Hardware sales of Nintendo Switch also trended upward since the video game expo E3 was held in the U.S. and software sales are in good shape with upcoming launches of key titles, the company said.

Switch's popularity helped offset declines in hardware and software sales of Nintendo 3DS.

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This version of the story removes an error in an earlier headline that stated the earnings result covers the second quarter. It is the fiscal first quarter.