Full box for the Switch, which beats an old record at Nintendo: the hybrid console officially exceeds the Wii in terms of units sold! A success that is also based on incredibly popular licenses.
The Switch ended up under a lot of Christmas trees. During the fourth quarter of last year, Nintendo sold 10.67 million of its hybrid console (all versions combined), despite the supply problems affecting all manufacturers of electronic products. Since the launch of the Switch in 2017, the Japanese group has sold 103.54 million: in five years, it has therefore done better than the Wii, which finished at 101.63 million copies.
Games at the zenith
Difficulties in finding electronic components had the effect of reducing shipments by 8% compared to the same period of 2020. But Nintendo was less hit than Sony, which sold only 3.9 million PlayStation 5s during the holidays when the console is still in high demand. The end of the year was marked by the launch of the Switch OLED which, as its name suggests, therefore incorporates a better quality OLED screen.
Over the entire fiscal year, which runs from the beginning of April to the end of March, Nintendo plans to sell 23 million Switches, one million less than the estimates given last November. Already at the time, the forecasts had been revised downwards since originally, the manufacturer was planning to sell 25.5 million consoles. This new figure may be conservative, as Nintendo only needs to sell 4 million copies to reach the goal.
In terms of games, it’s a full house for Pokémon Sparkling Diamond and his twin Sparkling Pearlwhich sold nearly 14 million copies. Mario Party Superstars also performed well (5.43 million copies), while The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD reached 3.85 million copies. Metroid Dread was particularly well received with 2.74 million copies. This is quite simply a record for the franchise!
The console has probably not finished selling well. Pokemon Legends: Arceusavailable since January 28, should help boost sales.
