The Nintendo Switch Has Exceeded 114 Million Units Sold

wow, I guess u can say thats a lot of units!

Good to know that the chip shortage is easing somewhat and that demand has been relatively steady.

It will be very interesting to see where lifetime unit sales end up on the Switch when the dust is finally settled and Nintendo is well underway into their next generation.

It must be passing the PS4 soon, right? I think it will end up being the third best selling console of all time (after PS2 and DS), and Nintendo's second best selling after the DS.

Very nice. After this quarter, it'll pass the PS4 and Gameboy, you love to see it.

Puts the poor old Wii U numbers into perspective

Looks like they are projecting 9-10m over Christmas and perhaps 3m in the first quarter - which suggests to me that they are not releasing a new switch model this FY.

If they do release a new model in the next FY, they could easily overtake the DS numbers, which include all the models (including DSi etc) - the numbers that the switch eventually does depends mostly on what counts as a “switch”!

Poor Wii u, forever with the Virtual Boy as the worst commercially failed products. I think the last stop for the Switch will be second place. Its an impressive console that managed to get pass through the once mighty Wii. The new Pokemon game and Zelda 2 will probably give the Switch one final big push in units being sold, after that the chance of selling bigger numbers will be lower since people will be anticipating the next big Zelda release that most likely i think will follow on the Next Nintendo console. Good to hear that the Switch is Nintendo most second succesful console ever (It will dethrone the Gameboy )Im really looking forward for the next generation.

@Quarth ps4 is still selling well but sony stopped tracking it. It sits around 125 million units sold but my guess is the actual number when it’ll be discontinued will be between 130m and 135m units sold.
That being said I think the switch will end up around the same number, probably a bit higher.

Funny, you could take a look at this chart and, if you didn't know better, think that the SNES was a bit of a flop when it was anything but. The rest of the consoles in the upper places just sold so sooooo much.

That poor Wii U

@Quarth I think the PS4 sold about 118M units, so probably the Switch will outsell it by the end of they year, and surely by the end of the fiscal year.

I don't understand how normal ds sold so well. It barely had any good games.

Also, the worst selling nintendo consoles were the ones that were equal in power compared to the competition. Interesting.

And the best selling consoles were and are lagging behind in terms of raw horsepower.

@Member_the_game I remember around 2015-2017, the Wii U was really dead in the water and only the 3DS was keeping Nintendo above water. Too bad, the support for 3DS will be dropped soon by the ungrateful Big N hahaha. The 3DS was the *****. Saved me during some very dark times, along with the Wii U. I was playing BotW on my Wii U an average of 2-3 hours everyday when it came out until I finally got my Switch in 2018.

@Cia It has lots of amazing games. I had one and it was amazing. Maybe the fact that the DS was hacked early on and piracy of DS games was off the chains back then. Not too proud of it but I did dabble with it myself. Good times.

@cowntsikin Really is a shame they dgaf about 3ds/2ds anymore. I probably put more hours into that thing than any other console I've ever owned. I get it, profits or whatever, but it never let me down.

Why is it safe to assume the sales are on a natural decline when they're still exceeding Yr.1 sales, despite the semiconductor shortage?

Yup, PS4 numbers should be in the bag by January. I still assert that Game Boy has been passed long ago but many folks still insist on lumping Color sales together with it.

@Cia DS had an amazing library, but its record sales are also partly owed to effectively becoming many people's affordable palmtop of the era, similarly to how the marginally higher-selling PS2 had won folks over as an accessible DVD player. From mainstreaming "casual" genres that went on to reign the mobile space afterwards to the myriads of cookbooks, yoga instructors, crosswords and literal fiction reading apps, DS was a relatively cheap and convenient touchscreen machine that could cover you on a lot of fronts. The previous handhelds had tapped into this before (like Game Boy organizers or even whole movies compressed for GBA before PSP ever tried to make it cool), but DS's interface was a game changer.

@Quarth PS4 is just under the Game Boy/Game Boy Color line (the two handhelds have their sales bundled together), about 117.2 million compared to the 118.69 million that the GB and GBC sold. The Switch has a ways to go.

But either way, no matter how you look at it, 114 million is still impressive. It's firmly in the Top 5 for the best-selling consoles overall, and Nintendo takes three of those slots. Top 10, it takes five slots.

Now, compare that to the PS5, which sits at 25 million units sold (GameCube territory) and the Xbox Series X/S, which sits at about 12 million units sold (Wii U territory). THEY have a LOT of catching up to do.

But these semiconductor shortages are hurting everyone the world over. We can only hope that the CHIPS Act of 2022, which will boost semiconductor production here in the United States, will take effect soon, so we can alleviate the semiconductor shortage.

I actually didn't realize GameBoy sales were that far below DS. I really want to see the Switch surpass PS2 unit sales. May they reign supreme once again!

@darkswabber The PS4 is at 117.2 million as of March 2022. It literally only shipped a few 100k units in that January-March quarter.
Please do not make up random numbers here and post them here like they're facts.

If...and probably when Nintendo surpasses the Game Boy, there is nothing else we can wait for. I have a lot of doubts it would ever reach the likes of the DS and PS2, simply because those two consoles have a market that has since been divided, with some DS players on mobile devices and the PS2 players (not even players at this point) using... movie/TV streaming services today.

Great news as fully deserved.

The bottom three on that list though the N64, GameCube and Wii U were such great consoles, with great games, what’s wrong with gamers?!

SNES needs to be way up that chart. Fix it Nintendolife.

Impressive.
I'm glad I have Nintendo Switch, but....
My current hype is on 3rd party PS4 games.

I think it may fall short of DS and PS2 levels but an incredible number for an incredible machine. 3rd overall 💪💫🔥

@darkswabber,

Just a guess mate, and even though the Ps4 still selling, it's nowhere near the numbers you are thinking.

114 million Switches sold, and still Nintendo's traditional bumper Holiday period to come.

Seeing the comments about the SNES sales figures is amusing, knowing why they are "low". Sega was fighting hard for Nintendo's market share in the west, and Hudson was fighting with the TurboGraphix-16 in the east. Nintendo's lower sales figures were directly due to their competition giving it their all that generation.

Nah, it's gonna do it, best selling console of all time! It's coming for that top spot PS2!

I still can't imagine a person getting a switch for the first time, but sure enough, a coworker of mine purchased one a few months ago. She likes it, but doesn't play that much. I can't imagine that, since I have been playing since week 2 after launch.

These sale numbers boggle my mind.

Erm, you do realise next year is going to be a huge year what with the mario movie and took. No idea what momentum will be like in 2024 but I”m sure it can sell 40 mil in 3 or 4 years.

@GrailUK There's no way that film is coming out without some sort of push on other fronts by Nintendo...

Switch overtaking ps2 seems very difficult to me, even thou i would love for it to do it, 3rd place is were its going to land (hope im wrong but doubt it)

I call b.s on semiconductor shortages the Switch had reached over situation

If it surpasses 120 million (very likely by March 2023), it would easily surpass GB/GBC & PS4 sales but it would still trail the DS & PS2.

There's no way the current Switch can hit the 150 million mark unless an enhanced revision is put out that counts as the same console.

It absolutely will pass Game Boy (and definitely PS4) by March 2023. Probably by December 31st, 2022.

114 million units sold, with a million more well on the way.

@ChickenJoe I bought mine in December 2011 and then upgraded to the New 3DS XL in Feb 2014. Up until I got a Switch in 2018, I have probably clocked in more than 1500 hours on 3DS. The glassless 3D screen still amazes me up to the present. It really is Nintendo at its most innovative. Too bad, many people thought of it as just merely a gimmick.

@Axecon I would be very surprised if Nintendo still doesn't release a better Switch next year. They just have to. XBox and PlayStation are just miles ahead of the Switch hardware-wise. OR maybe Switch successor is already in the works? Either way, they have to release one by the end of 2024.

@darkswabber Sony confirmed a few months ago that the PS4 has sold about 118M before they stopped production. The Switch will outsell it by March 2023 for sure.

@cowntsikin they will release a new console once they can source the components. I don’t think that will be until 2024.

Market saturation is setting in. Not a surprise. There will be only so many that will want to upgrade their OG switch to the OLED. Who knows perhaps there will be an addition to the Switch family or we just have to wait for a real next gen.

Still though the projected 19 million this financial year is still up there. PS5 is projected to sell 18 million this financial year, so it's hardly terrible.

If Nintendo Switch gets a significant price drop it can get close to PS2. PS2 had $99.99-$149.99 price points. I bought my first PS2 (a Slim) in November 2006 because PS3 and Wii were sold out. PS2 had Rockstar's Bully and Final Fantasy 12 brand new that fall! If Nintendo can drop the price to $149.99 (Lite)-$199.99 (Main)-$249.99 (OLED) with Metroid Prime 4 and a new 2D Super Mario in whatever its final year will be....I think PS2 and DS numbers will happen. Right now it should hit 125 Million-128 Million this Christmas which obviously is huge. Next year it should be in the 130-140M....

I had a feeling the Switch will beat PS4 once 2023 comes then Game Boy by next Summer. If Nintendo announced a price dropped for all Switch models then that goal could happen faster. It'll eventually beat the DS and PS2 by 2025 if Switch is still even selling by then.

19 million units in FY 2022 is still an insane number, especially given that they haven't even lowered the price of the darn thing... If anything, they increased it with OLED being the best selling Switch model.

@darkswabber People already pointed it out, but I don't think your numbers are correct.

I laugh at people shocked that numbers of units sold are starting to drop for the console. Um, you are an almost 6 year old platform that has sold over 114 million units. Of course there is going to start being some slowdown.

@darkswabber Ahmad says that the PS4 is at 117.2 million units sold as of March this year.

Switch will be the third best selling videogame system of all time by years end. Amazing achievement.

Yeah all looks good, seems to fit in with my 2024 prediction of the release of the switch 2 as well.

I still haven’t bought a Switch! I keep saying I’ll buy one when they drop the price. Been 5 years now!

Still, they must drop the price at some point, and I imagine that would give sales a boost in later years. You never know, it could pass the PS2 and DS with such a boost.

Love Switch and its success. Big N could simply take the SW OLED and replace its chip with a 4K/better chip or maybe make a digital-only version to lower price...but PLEASE replace the joy-con mechanism with a new design. I would have bought a few Switch Lites - lost sales - if I trusted their joy-con sticks wouldn't ever drift. Every other joy-con I've owned has suffered drift.

Wow, I hadn't even realized that it surpassed the Wii... I never thought it would overtake it. I guess this system is on track to be the greatest Nintendo system of all time. We'll see.

@Cia The DS had an incredibly good library.

Well I did my part with the OLED, lol.

@darkswabber You're clueless.

The Switch sold 3.2 million units this past quarter (from 111.1 to 114.3) not 6.68 million. The later figure is what the Switch sold over the last 6 months. Nintendo does some tricky reporting every quarter, usually giving the grand total of the Switch sales, and then giving out the sales figures from the last 6 months. It's up to the press to do the math, but they rarely do, reporting the 6 month sales figure as the quarterly figure.

If they put Ys 1 on Switch it would sell 5 million units in a day. Oh, wait. I'm just hopeful we get that game.. !

@Member_the_game just the 14m is more than the wii u