Nintendo has published its latest financial report, giving us a look at the total Switch sales so far. It's looking good, with combined might of the Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch Lite, and Nintendo Switch - OLED Model selling 107.65 million units, inching ever closer to that 110 million milestone.
Despite this, Nintendo reports that sales of the Switch has decreased by 20% year-on-year, with the company citing "shortages of semiconductor components and other parts". It also singles out Animal Crossing: New Horizons as a particularly high driver of sales during the last fiscal year, something that Nintendo has arguably lacked in more recent months.
Here's how the console sold over the last year:
- Total Switch sales this period: 23.06 million
- Total Standard Switch sales this period: 13.56 million
- Total Switch OLED sales this period: 5.80 million
- Total Switch Lite sales this period: 3.70 million
Now let's take a look at where the Switch now stands against Nintendo's other major systems:
Console | Total Sales |
---|---|
DS | 154.02 Million |
Game Boy | 118.69 Million |
Switch | 107.65 Million |
Wii | 101.63 Million |
Game Boy Advance | 81.51 Million |
3DS | 75.94 Million |
Family Computer / NES | 61.91 Million |
Super Family Computer / SNES | 49.10 Million |
N64 | 32.93 Million |
GameCube | 21.74 Million |
Wii U | 13.56 Million |
It's a stark reminder of how successful the Switch continues to be and with games like Bayonetta 3, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet all slated for release this year, it's looking like the console will see healthy sales well into the new year.
Time will tell, of course, whether the system manages to catch up to the Game Boy and the DS (we're pretty confident on the former, at least), but we reckon the strong software support - including Breath of the Wild 2 in 2023 - should nudge it closer to the top two spots.
What do you make of the latest Switch hardware figures? Do you think it will catch up to the DS? Let us know in the comments.
[source nintendo.co.jp]
Comments (66)
good numbers.. the Gameboy seems very possible that switch can beat, but the DS, I don't think so.. to me, our fight is against the ps4.
Since I am first, I just want to congratulate Switch on all these units sold.
edit: second...
Wow nice one Switch.
@Scarko for only 3 seconds.. haha! I share your words.. congrats to our beloved Switch!
@rex_rex GB and PS4 will be passed by the end of 2022. There's absolutely no doubt about it.
Super impressive. Switch will definitely pass up PS4 and Gameboy at the end of this year.
@rex_rex The GameBoy will be passed around holidays 2022 imo. The new Pokémon games will greatly help.
@SuperCharlie78 and i'll open a beer to celebrate that! hehehe! can't wait!
@SuperCharlie78 @rex_rex Nintendo's sales target for this year is 21m units, if they hit the same number next year the lifetime sales would be over 149m, so I think it is possible for the Switch to pass the DS...
Nintendo expects to ship another 21 million Switch units this fiscal year, bringing lifetime Switch sales up to 128.65 million by March 2023.
and I'm still expecting the indie world announement.. where is it??
Game boy sales is wrong actually... Its combined with game boy colour which came out a decade later. That's like combining ds with 3ds and calling it one console
Pack in Switch Sports with the console,
and I reckon it surpasses DS sales.
Breath of the Wild 2 might be interesting,
but I reckon most people getting that will have the first one (and of course therefore already have a Switch).
So Switch will probably pass the Game Boy, a system on the market for 10 years, by next March. Wow.
The N64 being above Gamecube is arguably the reason why we have the Virtual N64 on NSO rather than GQB(this is my effort to shorten the word Gamecube rather than GC)
Some impressive numbers indeed but people need to remember that before the Nintendo switch Nintendo had a dedicated handheld and a seperate dedicated home console on the market the previous generations, whilst the switch combine's the both.
So realistically it would be fair to combine the game boys sales with whatever console was around at the time.
Switch will problaby surpass Game Boy by holiday 2022/begining of 2023, DS i find difficult to surpass.
@Arisen the DS is way more underpowered compared to the 3ds, the DS sales included the DS, DS XL, DSi and DSi XL whilst the 3ds sales were the 3DS, 3DS XL, new 3DS, new 3DS XL and 2DS. Same for the switch it will include the sales for the original switch, switch lite and switch Oled and if they make a pro version then that will be included in its sales as well.
So the gameboy series total sales having the gameboy colour included is fine
So 5 out of 6 of nintendos top selling systems of all time are portable systems. Interesting stuff as traditionally many think of consoles tethered to a TV as real video gaming. Hope nintendo fully support backwards compatibility with future switch systems and also the online eco system they are slowly putting together going forward
@Arisen
Not really, you can't play any 3DS games on the DS.
The difference between Game Boy and Game Boy Color is more akin to 2DS and 3DS.
@UltimateOtaku91 For the most part it'd probably be the same people buying both the dedicated home consoles and dedicated handhelds so merging their sales numbers together wouldn't make a fair comparison.
@UltimateOtaku91
Only if every person buying a home console is also buying a handheld console ( and vice versa)
@MichaelP @BenAV yeah that's true, I'd say around 50-60% who had a gameboy probably had whatever consile was out at the time. From what I remember though as a kid everyone wanted a gameboy for one game.... Pokemon
@Arisen It's more like combining the 3ds with the the new nintendo 3ds, which was basically the same hardware, but had only a small number of exclusive games on the system.
Another 2 years it will be the best selling console ever! And “successor to the best selling console ever” would be one hell of a tag line for Switch 2!
Remember when XBOX fanboys were saying 'Switch is just Zelda and Mario, nothing will happen'. They're a bit quiet. Did the Xbox One XRZY or whatever it's called hit 10m yet?
I don't get why they always blame shortage. I have bought the normal switch and OLED with no issues of finding one here in AUS. Pretty much every shop has stock and in fact they lowered the price because there isn't enough demand
@Moonsorrow999 I think they're all in a grotty pub somewhere throwing 'em back with the people who predicted the PS3 would crush the Wii, and the men in faded Sonic t-shirts stretched over their beer bellies who still nurse resentment against Nintendo even though they're approaching state pension age.
(I'm just kidding. No offence intended. This news just causes my inner fanboy child to re-emerge.)
@Matthew90 It's the same here in Denmark. Just checked Pricerunner and all 3 current models are easily available online (Switch v. 2 2019 has even gone considerably down in price as it now cost less than 25% more than the Lite version).
@Moonsorrow999 Well according to VGCvartz Xbox Series S/X sat at 14.32 million april 23th.
@Franklin There are "Color only" games that can't be played on a regular GameBoy.
@sanderev
Which is why I said "any" when referring to 3DS games that can be played on DS.
The Switch will without a doubt outsell the PS4. It has yet to face its greatest challenge up top.
@UltimateOtaku91
Psst. New 2DS XL
@Matthew90
It's probably because the Switch never got a "huge" game recently that was the end-all for people to buy a Switch. Most of the game we've gotten were long-awaited sequels, but nothing was substantial enough to convince people to buy the console.
@Franklin @UltimateOtaku91 You can play DS games on a 3DS just like you can't play GBC games on a GB. Hardware difference may not seem like a lot TODAY but back then playing games with colour was the next big thing. It's basically a cheat Nintendo is using to add some prestige to its first handheld imo. They are 9 years apart and the leap from 4th to 5th gen.
This next year the Switch is definitely gonna top the original GB and the PS4. But I think this is going to be the last strong year of sales for the console, it's not likely to reach DS/PS2 numbers.
@Arisen
I was playing Game Boy back then,
didn't seem such a big deal to me.
Game Gear had been doing colour for years,
Game Boy's success was never about visuals.
And you could play most GBC games on GB.
Even Link's Awakening DX, only really released to demonstrate the new colour option, could be played on Game Boy.
There are certain games you couldn't play on N64 without an Expansion Pak;
I wouldn't call it a separate console.
@Abeedo
New 3DS,
this is the correct analogy right here.
@rex_rex They'll pass the Gameboy and PS4 after the Christmas quarter. Passing the DS will totally depend on a revision, a "Switch Pro" or something that's counted as part of the same family. Otherwise, yeah the Switch will not hit DS numbers.
@Matthew90 I'm finding the same thing in Atlantic Canada. I waltzed into Walmart at supper time on launch day with no pre-order and got my OLED. And since then, I've never seen it sold out anywhere. Or any Switch model for that matter, including the Animal Crossing edition. Always a healthy stock available. Maybe it's a different story in those 1m+ population centres?
By the next fiasco year it definitely may beat the Game Boy but it'll take a lot of work to beat the DS. Unless Nintendo dropped the prices of all Switch models and had another updated Switch model by 2023 with more killer hits landing in 2023 and 2024 I don't see the Switch getting to DS sales that quick and people are getting tired of the Switch soon especially since third parties are slowly moving towards next-gen.
@Serpenterror But who’s actually “moving to next gen”? Not Nintendo’s customers as the Switch keeps selling at the same pace (minus component shortage problems) as before. And no new system has been announced. So the Switch will likely have 2 more full years at least. Which would be enough to equal DS sales (and even after the next-gen Nintendo system is out the Switch will keep selling for a few more years, on a lower level). I’d say it will definitely surpass the DS.
The Switch is like a killing machine in this generation!
It will easily surpass Game Boy, and the DS w be overcome in two years. The Switch will become the best selling console ever.
@VanishStampede It's GCN for the GameCube lol. And the reason we have N64 first is because developing an emulator for the N64 is pretty dang easy relatively speaking, many people have done it for fun. Developing a GCN emulator with general compatibility is at least an order of magnitude harder and more expensive, and even then it's patchy which games will perform well on the Switch. There would probably have to be massive holes in the catalog, although Wind Waker and Pikmin at least should run well. They're no more complex to emulate than Sunshine (which is one of the lightest games emulation wise, only the goo can cause issues).
What an impressive milestone!
I hope the system will still be recieving new and exciting games for the next few years.
Hugely impressive. It is now well clear of combined GBA&GCN sales as well as 3DS plus Wii U sales. I’d be interested to know how many Gameboys were sold while the SNES was Nintendos main home system and how many GB/GBC we’re sold alongside the N64 as Switch must have a chance of being ahead of those generations combined sales too.
Where are the people who said it would fail?
If anyone thinks it won’t beat DS, the fact it hasn’t had a price cut yet should tell you it’s s case of when not if. Honestly, the Switch is an ongoing hit!
@Moonsorrow999 It actually did.
Awesome News! Big Games yet to come!
@WeLiveInASociety They are crying in basements 😆 🤣
Congrats Nintendo. What a great console!
Bring out a Super Switch that can do 4K @ 60fps along with a Zelda Anthology full of 4K remasters and watch them sell 214 million units in the first year.
Gameboy and PS4 are 100% being outsold this year.
But I wanna see how the Switch fairs against the ds/ps2 once that happens.
@UltimateOtaku91 GBA was a thing at the same time as the GC so you would be looking at a little over 102M units combined for that generation. They will never top the DS/Wii combo though selling over 250M units combined those were high times. Since the Switch Light the Switch does have an official portable only model to go with the hybrid models. What I wish they would release before the next generation is a Switch mini console (like the VitaTV). They could bundle that with a pro controller and sell it for $149 to give users a cheap home only option.....I would buy one, but hey I love mini consoles.
@QuickSilver88 that's a good point, the original and OLED versions are hybrid, the switch lite is handheld only, so now to finish the set they need a home console only version, and due to the size of the game cartridges and the actual components in the switch tablet that would be required (no screen, smaller battery, no dock) would create a really tiny console. Plus all of the games would work unlike the ps vita TV.
Switch will pass Game Boy sales by September or October at latest.
@iLikeUrAttitude Absolutely 💯
I'm so glad it is too because it deserves to outsell them! DS and ps2 will be icing on the cake 🎂 😎👍
@link3710 I do agree that these emulators are hard to cobble together. Several years ago I gave a bit of time to emulation, and it literally melted my computer trying to play 64 and GCN. I wonder if there will be a attachment for the Switch to play Gamecube games.
Nintendo haters are ALWAYS going to lose and there is absolutely nothing they can do about it! 😁
@NintendoEternity @iLikeUrAttitude Well, the Switch would need to sell approx half as many units AGAIN as it has already to get near the PS2's 157 million+ units sold so is that likely?
PS2 sold to so many people as their first DVD player as well as gamers (to me, it was both!)
I've recently got a Switch Lite as my gaming on the go device, but would've chosen a PSP 3 instead had stupid Sony not been so blinkered and stabbed the Vita in the back before it had chance to gain traction.
@sanderson72 I don't see why not.
The switch at it's worst sales wise is still expected to sell 21 million units this year. It just needs to sell a minimum of 20 million units for 2 more years, thats easy seeing how it's momentum is still strong 5 years later.
@iLikeUrAttitude I think a lot will depend on when Nintendo announce the Switch 2 (or whatever it will be called). After that breaks cover, Switch demand may lessen.
Nintendo is probably scared with the idea of releasing a new console. Maybe they will now only launch more powerful Switch.
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