TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's Nintendo ( NTDOF ) cut its full-year sales forecast on Tuesday for the aging Switch console by 12% to 11 million units ahead of the launch of a successor device this year.

The company also lowered its operating profit forecast on Tuesday by 22.2% to 280 billion yen ($1.8 billion) for the financial year ending March.

Nintendo ( NTDOF ) remains dependent on its console business even as it has opened stores and its roster of characters feature in theme parks and film.

The company sold 9.54 million Switch units in the April-December period.

Last month Nintendo ( NTDOF ) said it will release a successor to the hit home-portable Switch console this year.

The Switch 2 appears to closely follow the design of its predecessor, which transformed Nintendo's ( NTDOF ) fortunes after the underperformance of the Wii U.

In the April-December period, profit fell 46.7% to 247.6 billion yen.

($1 = 155.2900 yen)

(Reporting by Sam Nussey; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Muralikumar Anantharaman)