Nintendo believes its inability to sell consumers on the appeal of Switch hardware and software prevented the console from meeting sales expectations. 

The Japanese giant initially expected the Switch to sell 20 million units by the end of the fiscal year on March 31, 2019, but recently lowered its forecast to 17 million units. 

Although the company still managed to grow year-over-year hardware sales in every region, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa claims it hasn't done enough to convey the unique merits of the system to potential buyers.

"As we look back so far (for this fiscal year), we now evaluate that our efforts to fully convey the appeal of Nintendo Switch hardware and software to the number of new consumers we originally hoped to reach were insufficient," he commented during a recent Q&A.

"[Additionally], while we expected that releasing titles during the holiday season would help to increase sales, the year-on-year sales increase during the first half of the fiscal year (April to September) turned out not big enough, which also affected the revision of the unit forecast as we looked back now."

Moving into the next fiscal year, Furukawa wants to see Nintendo increase both Switch hardware and software sales by "enriching" its game roster and better marketing the device.