It has now been a year since Nintendo launched the Switch in China with the help of Tencent and it seems to be paying off.
According to Niko Partners, the hybrid system has now sold more than 1.3 million units in the region this year, through both legal and gray market channels. Bloomberg highlights how this is "almost double" the combined sales of PlayStation 4 and Xbox One within the same period. All up, this pushes the Switch's lifetime sales within China to close to four million.
As previously noted, one of the standout Switch games in China this year has been Ring Fit Adventure - which resulted in shortages around the world due to the demand - especially during the height of the pandemic. And although games like Animal Crossing: New Horizons have not been given government approval just yet, they still have quite the following.
There's plenty of potential for Switch sales growth - with Niko Partners president Lisa Cosmas Hanson mentioning at the beginning of the last month how demand for the next-gen units (XSX and PS5) isn't quite as high as here in the west.
[source bloomberg.com]
Comments 39
Hope it continues to do well in China. They know which console to get!
Down with the CCP!
I don't know anyone who owns the chinese version. Since it is censored by the government and has like 5 or 6 games, 3 or 4 being Mario something. everyone buys the japanese version.
I wonder if Xi Jinping or Kim Jong Un owns a Switch.
Government hasn’t approved Animal Crossing yet? Makes you appreciate the country you live in.
@Gus_Campos
I'm curious, is the lineup as terrible for the PS4/XBOX One in China (i.e less than 10 games on each)?
Surprising since the Switch in China is heavily restricted and doesn't even have region lock. Most Chinese people just buy the Japanese or Hong Kong version of the Switch since their not restricted.
I would congratulate the Chinese Switch, but it's connected to Tencent so hell no.
a lot of people love gaming in China
Free Hong Kong
No one that knows Switch it's surprised by this.
And we all know China has a population of only 1.4 million so that's pretty amazing.
Imagine the sales if the Chinese government were just a little less stupid with censorship.
@JGruns They won't approve, because someone wrote Free Hong Kong in an island.
@Toy_Link Not really, because there is no chinese company made version of these consoles. so they will run any game you can buy. The Switch case is different, because a Tencent made switch won't play games from other region, only the chinese approved one. They also cant use multiplayer with people from other countries. People who buys the chinese one are people who are not aware of these limitations.
@gus_campos Actually the Tencent Switch in China plays all switch cartridge games from different regions, its just that the eShop games and online features are region locked.
https://nikopartners.com/tencent-to-bring-nintendo-switch-to-china-on-december-10-2019/
@TempestStotm Yeah you know me!
This means China is Nintendo's 4th biggest market, just behind France and just above Germany and the UK.
The 3DS sold just over 1 million units in all of mainland Asia in its entire lifespan, presumably with 200,000-400,000 units sold in China. The removal of region locking has helped to increase Nintendo's hardware sales in China by 20× or more when all said and done.
@Sun_wukong Not that bad, but still not worth at all. the price difference on the censored switch vs the freedom switch is around 35 usd.
Not a big fan of Tencent and their government sanctioned monopolies, but I -am- a fan of the chinese public finally getting to play Nintendo games the way they were designed to be played.
@westman98 I'm curious on what basis you say China is 4th biggest market.
US is 20m+, Japan is 13m+
Is France next with ~4m+? And China right behind?
If so, that's a huge drop from Japan to France. And could I see your source for France, Germany & UK? That's interesting.
@westman98 Source please
@Lionyone @shazbot
Switch sales per region by the end of 2019:
https://i.ibb.co/6XvTXxt/2020-09-01-20-22-34.jpg
Switch sales in China by the end of 2019: 2.7 million
Data is from IDG Consulting and Media Create
@Chowdaire Beat me to that joke. Curse you
Say Chowdah!
@TempestStotm @nessisonett
Agreed!
Not bad at all. If they've managed to sell this many with Tencent, how many could they have sold if they'd worked with 50 Cent?
Thank you for all you have done for us the past year, China!!!
🙄
Down with the oppressive regime!!
I'm not sure how to feel about this.
On the one hand im happy for Nintendo, i support them and this can only be good for their bottom line.
On the other hand China are a big problem. I'm not sure them having more influence on Nintendo is a good thing at all.
We could end up with a version of Mario holding a hammer and sickle...
@westman98 Thanks, that's nuts.
Would be some massive changes over the last year. Look forward to an updated graph through holiday 2020, because we're comparing Chinese numbers to t-1 year numbers.
I think it's pretty disgusting seeing all these companies bowing down to China just for a piece of their market while at the same time they like to wear their big boy pants in the west.
@Heavyarms55 Imagine life in general if the Chinese government were just a little less stupid with censorship.
@shazbot
The only thing that has really changed in 2020 is that Germany now ranks slightly ahead of the UK for Switch sales.
China still ranks slightly ahead of them both.
Down with the tyrannical CCP regime!
Not bad at all, better then them buying those Switch coloured knock offs which look like a PSP they sell over the their. And they always have great names like the Scamino Oochamaflip. LOL
@westman98 Oh, I meant I'm curious about the numbers.
Those numbers only include the tencent switch so probably only accounts for 20% of the figures
@Razer As MiyamotoHimself, I also wonder whether Nintendo would self censor its games to tailor to China's market like-a Horrywood? Wakarimasen ~ Afterall, no body wants a government to spoil some good fun, ne~ ?
@MiyamotoHimself Yeah it's tough for companies, you have such a big market in China, nearly 1.4 billion people, that's a huge portion of the worlds population. So the potential is big, but you have the Chinese Communist Party, who are simply not to be trusted.
I wish politics would stay away from video games, it should be a place where people can, regardless of political points of view, get togethers and play togethers, without politics getting in the way.
But surely Miyamoto San, you can help influence Nintendo's decisions in this regard 😛.
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