Switch lifetime SW and HW sales compared to other systems

Deeke · May 7, 2020

Hey ERA, I put together some charts to show how the Switch stacks up against other historical systems. The following data is based on Nintendo's latest FY2020 earnings and compares both hardware and software.

Some highlights:

Hardware

Switch is 7th best-selling Nintendo hardware
NSW is 6.14 million units away from beating NES lifetime sales
If Switch sells 20 million in FY2021, it'll beat 3DS hardware sales
Total Switch sales are at 55.77 million, up 60% cumulatively YoY
Nintendo sold 21.03 million Switches in FY2020, up 24% YoY

Software

Total cumulative Switch software sales are at 356.24 million, up 89% from FY2019
Switch SW should beat GBA, 3DS, and SNES software sales in FY2021
Nintendo sold 168.72 million Switch games in FY2020
82.8% of software sales were first-party games (139.7 million)
Animal Crossing made up nearly 7% of total games sold in the year

Rodrigues solitaire · May 7, 2020

Unreal software numbers. People clearly love the nature of the system. Thanks for making these graphs, OP.

Mekanos · May 7, 2020

The fact that Switch software is about to pass 3DS despite a massive hardware gap is unreal.

Interested Observer · May 7, 2020

Mekanos said:
The fact that Switch software is about to pass 3DS despite a massive hardware gap is unreal.

The Switch is ahead by about 1.3 games per console, which doesn't surprise me that much thanks to the huge digital library available on it, including a lot of small/cheap indie games. It's a long long time since I used my 3DS but apart from the big Nintendo games I just feel there was less to play on it. Could be wrong, going from memory.

Oregano · May 7, 2020

Interested Observer said:
The Switch is ahead by about 1.3 games per console, which doesn't surprise me that much thanks to the huge digital library available on it, including a lot of small/cheap indie games. It's a long long time since I used my 3DS but apart from the big Nintendo games I just feel there was less to play on it. Could be wrong, going from memory.

Nintendo only includes games that have a packaged release in those software figures, I'm not sure how that works for games which have a later, limited release but digital only games are not included in those figures.

The actual amount of software sold on Switch will dwarf the 3DS.

Bob Beat · May 7, 2020

It'll probably overtake NES, in software, putting it in 3rd, assuming a repeat from this year or better.

Creamium · May 7, 2020

DS and Wii were such giants holy shit. Those software sales...

cw_sasuke · May 7, 2020

Switch is a beast in terms of software - nearly caught up to lifetime 3DS already.
Not even including digital only content games.

dziga · May 7, 2020

so where will it finish ? between game boy and wii ?

Deleted member 49535 · May 7, 2020

DS and Wii numbers are really something else.

Mekanos said:
The fact that Switch software is about to pass 3DS despite a massive hardware gap is unreal.

Turns out having your audience buy games on a single platform instead of 2 was smart.

FarSight XR-20 · May 7, 2020

Those N64 and Gamecube numbers are so sad.

Wariobenotware · May 7, 2020

LOL at those Wii U numbers. How did Nintendo think that system was ever a good idea?

klanar · May 7, 2020

What was DS and Wii software sales after 3 years compared to switch? Is that information available?

Deeke · May 7, 2020

klanar said:
What was DS and Wii software sales after 3 years compared to switch? Is that information available?

I think you might have to dig for Wii numbers. DS would probably be easier to find but I'm still not 100% sure. Nintendo is FAR more transparent and communicative these days, heh.

Lyre · May 7, 2020

I worry that Switch needs to be doing a lot better considering that they've now merged their handheld and console lines.

Andri · May 7, 2020

klanar said:
What was DS and Wii software sales after 3 years compared to switch? Is that information available?

Wii(FY ending march 2009):353m
DS(FY ending march 2006):183m
Switch:356m

Slightly ahead of Wii, and worlds ahead of DS.

Lyre said:
I worry that Switch needs to be doing a lot better considering that they've now merged their handheld and console lines.

That was and always will be a incredibly stupid way to look at sales.

sfortunato · May 7, 2020

Lyre said:
I worry that Switch needs to be doing a lot better considering that they've now merged their handheld and console lines.

It need not.

Plus, there are other indicators to take into account when measuring a product's performance. In the case of Switch:

margins on units of hardware sold (Switch never sold below cost unlike 3DS during its first years);
digital sales (where margins are way bigger);
sales of accessories;
sales of third party games.

9-Volt · May 7, 2020

At 55m units sold, Switch is very close to GBA and 3DS in software sales, both have sold at least 20m more than Switch. People buying more games on Switch, despite the $20 difference in first party software prices.

Lyre · May 7, 2020

Andri said:
That was and always will be a incredibly stupid way to look at sales.

Why?

g-m1n1 · May 7, 2020

Lyre said:
I worry that Switch needs to be doing a lot better considering that they've now merged their handheld and console lines.

We need to compare Switch vs other handheld and not vs handheld + consoles combined.

I was expecting more than 6 million Lite units.

I bought one because I got it Day1 for 169€ (199- 30 immediate cashback).
Guessed more people would be interested in the handheld console only and cheaper price.

I bought a Switch for both my nephews. Today i would have bought them the Lite version.

9-Volt said:
People buying more games on Switch, despite the $20 difference in first party software prices.

I guess this is due to more third party, especially indie games. I am using my Lite for all those low poly games that don't need the power of my PC/Pro.
Also, the average age of this console is probably higher than 2DS/3DS.

Aleh · May 7, 2020

Lyre said:
Why?

Does the PS4 have to sell as well as PSP+PS3?

AxkilAvenger · May 7, 2020

Wariobenotware said:
LOL at those Wii U numbers. How did Nintendo think that system was ever a good idea?

The system was and still is a great idea. The concept was poorly executed

Andri · May 7, 2020

Lyre said:
Why?

Because putting the bar at Wii+DS combined would mean 250m devices, 100m more than the best selling gaming device ever.

Similarily, SW combined for Wii+DS is almost 2 billion.

Lyre · May 7, 2020

Andri said:
Because putting the bar at Wii+DS combined would mean 250m devices, 100m more than the best selling gaming device ever.

Similarily, SW combined for Wii+DS is almost 2 billion.

Right, so let's say Switch does 125 M lifetime, you think the 125 M fewer hardware sold in a generation is of no concern to them?

I'm not expecting the Switch to do 250 M, but I think it needs to beat the DS.

Aleh said:
Does the PS4 have to sell as well as PSP+PS3?

If they wanted their total hardware numbers to grow then...yes?

OrdinaryUsername · May 7, 2020

Creamium said:
DS and Wii were such giants holy shit. Those software sales...

They were very high sales. It should also be mentioned that on the Nintendo DS, illegal flash cards were very popular, even with the mainstream. I wouldn't be surprised if half of Nintendo DS owners had one. A lot of Nintendo DS games were played illegally. If these figures were included, the number would be unseen, at least double that of Wii software.

Ten years ago, a Dutch survey showed that 62% of Nintendo DS owners had Flash cards such as R4. This has had a bad influence on the software sales

MysticGon · May 7, 2020

1 more year needed to have NES and potentially 3DS. 2 more years before it takes GBA.

King Kingo · May 7, 2020

Creamium said:
DS and Wii were such giants holy shit. Those software sales...

Both of those systems were filled to the brim with copycat shovelware that casual customers picked up.

Aleh · May 7, 2020

Lyre said:
Right, so let's say Switch does 125 M lifetime, you think the 125 M fewer hardware sold in a generation is of no concern to them?

I'm not expecting the Switch to do 250 M, but I think it needs to beat the DS.

If they wanted their total hardware numbers to grow then...yes?

Many people had both a DS and a Wii. They now only need the Switch. It doesn't need to sell even more than that to bring in more money which was what you were asking

E.T. · May 7, 2020

Nintendo hit it out of the park with the switch, their handheld game is on point.
Kudos

Lyre · May 7, 2020

Aleh said:
Many people had both a DS and a Wii. They now only need the Switch. It doesn't need to sell even more than that to bring in more money which was what you were asking

So they can make more from Switch than from DS/Wii combined?

I'm not doubting you, this is what I'm hoping will happen. Do you have figures showing they're on course to achieve this?

Oregano · May 7, 2020

Switch has to be the most successful console ever or it's a failure.

Cincaid · May 7, 2020

82.8% of sales were first party? Holy shit.

Aleh · May 7, 2020

Lyre said:
So they can make more from Switch than from DS/Wii combined?

I'm not doubting you, this is what I'm hoping will happen. Do you have figures showing they're on course to achieve this?

It's a different time. Their business model has changed and now includes a paid online service, digital sales, mobile games, expanded use of their IPs, and more. Which is why just looking at HW sales doesn't tell the whole story

Lexxism · May 7, 2020

g-m1n1 said:
I guess this is due to more third party, especially indie games. I am using my Lite for all those low poly games that don't need the power of my PC/Pro.
Also, the average age of this console is probably higher than 2DS/3DS.

I read somewhere that the software number doesnt include games without retail release. So if we include, it will be much higher than that.

Andri · May 7, 2020

g-m1n1 said:
I guess this is due to more third party, especially indie games. I am using my Lite for all those low poly games that don't need the power of my PC/Pro.
Also, the average age of this console is probably higher than 2DS/3DS.

Not really.
First digital only indies are not even counted for these SW sales, and second the vast majority of SW sales come from First party(this year it was 82%, the others werent much lower)

Vault · May 7, 2020

So 80-90 million before the Switch 2?

klanar · May 7, 2020

Andri said:
Wii(FY ending march 2009):353m
DS(FY ending march 2006):183m
Switch:356m

Slightly ahead of Wii, and worlds ahead of DS.

That was and always will be a incredibly stupid way to look at sales.

Aren't those less than 3 years though? For example, the DS should be until 2007 Dec and Wii until 2009 Dec?

Personablue · May 7, 2020

Interested Observer said:
The Switch is ahead by about 1.3 games per console, which doesn't surprise me that much thanks to the huge digital library available on it, including a lot of small/cheap indie games. It's a long long time since I used my 3DS but apart from the big Nintendo games I just feel there was less to play on it. Could be wrong, going from memory.

Digital only games are not counted for unlike sony

u_neek · May 7, 2020

Did 3DS really sell less than PSP worldwide? 😳

Foltzie · May 7, 2020

FarSightXR50 said:
Those N64 and Gamecube numbers are so sad.

Sobering though for anyone who advocates Nintendo trying to play in the same space as the PS and Xbox.

Foltzie · May 7, 2020

u_neek said:
Did 3DS really sell less than PSP worldwide? 😳

Yes. It's a shame Sony the Vita did so poorly after the nice bad the PSP laid.

Gay Bowser · May 7, 2020

u_neek said:
Did 3DS really sell less than PSP worldwide? 😳

The PSP was successful, and predated the rise of smartphone gaming.

Dwebble · May 7, 2020

It's going to be close between Switch and Game Boy, I reckon.

KillerMan91 · May 7, 2020

9-Volt said:
At 55m units sold, Switch is very close to GBA and 3DS in software sales, both have sold at least 20m more than Switch. People buying more games on Switch, despite the $20 difference in first party software prices.

To be fair handhelds have always had far lower tie ratios so it's not that surprising. For example PS3 sold more software than DS despite selling like 70 million units less hw. Wii also got close to DS in sw despite over 50 million gap in hw. Switch is just selling software like home console and not handheld.

Deleted member 10737 · May 7, 2020

thanks for the graphs OP
switch is a huge software seller machine. at least for me it just makes me wanna buy and play games more than any system before.

zer0_X · May 7, 2020

I'd say the impact of the covid-19 will greatly impact the sales of the current fiscal year and will probably hold back the overal numbers of the system by the end of its life by some millions.
In the end of its lifecycle, it will probably rank between the Wii and the GBA HW sales - which would mean that switch overal sales are somewhat the sum of the wiiU and the 3ds lifecycle sales, and that is pretty interesting

fiendcode · May 7, 2020

u_neek said:
Did 3DS really sell less than PSP worldwide? 😳

Yes but just barely. Sony's final reported PSP figure was 76.4m in 2012.

KillerMan91 · May 7, 2020

fiendcode said:
Yes but just barely. Sony's final reported PSP figure was 76.4m in 2012.

I really don't know why they gave us that as of march 2012 number when actual total must be millions higher. In Japan alone PSP still sold over 1 million after that date. As far as I remember last shipments for PSP were like in late 2014 in Europe.

InfinityDOK · May 7, 2020

Never realized how much the game cube sold seemed like everyone i knew had one.

Deleted member 3017 · May 7, 2020

InfinityDOK said:
Never realized how much the game cube sold seemed like everyone i knew had one.

You just hung out with a lot of cool people.

Switch lifetime SW and HW sales compared to other systems

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