Sales Data Switch hits 111.08 million shipped as of 30th June

[curl-6]

Yeah those who dismiss Wii's success as an anomaly are mostly the same ones who thought Switch would fail, and for the same reasons; they focus too much on large-scale trends instead of looking at the individual factors behind each console's success or failure.

It's a way of twisting the narrative by painting Nintendo's successes as "flukes" and the failures as the natural order of things, because this suits their agenda.

Every console sinks, swims, or soars on its own (commercial) merits or lack thereof.
There is no divine plan that says Gamecube or Wii U were always destined to sell less than N64 regardless of the choices made in their design and marketing, for instance.

 

[lexony]

After the very well initial reception of the Switch up until launch (There was never a backlash after that January presentation, just a loud minority convincing everyone in the hardcore communities this is gonna flop) I think it was already very likely that it would have the potential to sell more than the 3DS.

I mean 3DS never had this universal appeal from the get go. But for some reason people always focused on the home consoles and kept forgetting that there still was a more or less stable handheld business with a userbase ready moving to the next hardware with Pokémon or Animal Crossing.

To this day people underestimate the appeal of the Nintendo IPs and how much they can drive hardware sales when done right.

Personally I didn‘t thought that it will sell over 100 million first, but I never had the feeling that the Switch will not be a success back then.

 

[PillFencer]

Annual net profit

Needless to say, with their strongest Q1 to date they'll completely smash through their forecast. The record might even be broken once again, probably depending on the release date of BotW2.

 

[Luminoth9090]

Regional Hardware Shipments

Europe is the only region that has a shot of being up or flat this FY, i expect other regions to be down by around 10%. For Q2 all regions could be up yoy because last years Q2 was relatively weak thanks to Oled announcement and supply problems.

 

[curl-6]

Looking at the attach rate of Nintendo's systems, which are overall higher for their consoles than for their portables, Switch is behaving more like a console in this regard; its attach rate (currently 7.77 games per console) is already above any of their handhelds, and is consistently growing over time.

As a historical sidenote, the myth that people only bought the Wii for Wii Sports/Fit then never bought anything else and put it away in the attic to collect dust is also easily debunked by Nintendo's figures; even if you remove the pack-in Wii Sports from the equation, the average Wii owner had 8 games.

 

[meatbag]

Looking at the attach rate of Nintendo's systems, which are overall higher for their consoles than for their portables, Switch is behaving more like a console in this regard; its attach rate (currently 7.77 games per console) is already above any of their handhelds, and is consistently growing over time.

Hmm I’m curious about the median range of the number of owned games. I’m kinda assuming the while the number averages out to 7.77 but the data is more of a split between people who own maybe 2-4 games and those with more than 10.

 

[uncleoptimus]

As a historical sidenote, the myth that people only bought the Wii for Wii Sports/Fit then never bought anything else and put it away in the attic to collect dust is also easily debunked by Nintendo's figures; even if you remove the pack-in Wii Sports from the equation, the average Wii owner had 8 games.

Whoah thats a lot of copies of Just Dance 20XX!

More seriously, it is fascinating data and surely beyond their highest projections?
Not to mention these figures have been achieved w/ a) no price cut on the hardware side and b) no "Players Choice" permanent-price-drop skus on the software side to entice even deeper adoption of popular first-party titles.

 

[OTBWY]

Not gonna lie, i'm excited for the moment the Switch will pass the PS4.

 

[Kartina]

Not gonna lie, i'm excited for the moment the Switch will pass the PS4.

I know, I'm also a big fan of Christmas

 

[afternoon delight]

Annual net profit

Needless to say, with their strongest Q1 to date they'll completely smash through their forecast. The record might even be broken once again, probably depending on the release date of BotW2.

Damn it's really wild to see it graphed like that.

 

[Luminoth9090]

Not gonna lie, i'm excited for the moment the Switch will pass the PS4.

Playstation 4's current total of 117.2m is it's final total now that Sony has decided to no longer report shipments. Switch will rise to around 115m at the end of Q2 and then blast past it in October/November and when we get the Q3 report in early February i fully expect 125m shipped. It's not unusual that a successful Nintendo console has higher peak sales versus a Playstation console but what is unusual is that Switch will have much stronger legs and be on the market longer.

The first 5 full fiscal years of Switch v PS4, in FY6 PS4 shipped 13.4m and Switch is projected to ship 21m. As you can see both systems were selling at a similar pace untill FY4 when ACNH plus Covid hit and then Switch exploded to near peak DS levels.

 

[OTBWY]

Playstation 4's current total of 117.2m is it's final total now that Sony has decided to no longer report shipments. Switch will rise to around 115m at the end of Q2 and then blast past it in October/November and when we get the Q3 report in early February i fully expect 125m shipped. It's not unusual that a successful Nintendo console has higher peak sales versus a Playstation console but what is unusual is that Switch will have much stronger legs and be on the market longer.

The first 5 full fiscal years of Switch v PS4, in FY6 PS4 shipped 13.4m and switch is projected to ship 21m. As you can see both systems were selling at a similar pace untill FY4 when ACNH plus Covid hit and then Switch exploded to near peak DS levels.

I'm surprised it landed on that. Because I really thought it would easily pass the Gameboy. However, what is even more perplexing is how quick they killed off the PS4 (or it stopped on its own). Even though it is 2013, I felt Sony consoles had a full decade at least.

 

[meatbag]

However, what is even more perplexing is how quick they killed off the PS4 (or it stopped on its own). Even though it is 2013, I felt Sony consoles had a full decade at least.

They wanted to make way for the PS5 and there’s only a limited pool of components to work with.

 

[curl-6]

The main reason the Switch will outsell the PS4 is that it simply has broader appeal; its hybrid design allows it to tap into the portable audience as well as the home console audience, and its focus on convenience and accessibility is a better fit for busy adults such as parents who may not have much time to sit down and play on the TV on a daily basis.

I would argue its software also has a more diverse reach; in addition to traditional "core" games like Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3, Monster Hunter Rise, etc, it also offers so-called "blue ocean" experiences that appeal to people outside the typical gamer demographic, with titles like Ring Fit Adventure and Switch Sports, both of which have seen great success.

The Switch is overall a more inclusive and versatile platform, and as such reaches a lot of people that the PS4 does not.

 

[PalmasOceania]

The main reason the Switch will outsell the PS4 is that it simply has broader appeal; its hybrid design allows it to tap into the portable audience as well as the home console audience, and its focus on convenience and accessibility is a better fit for busy adults such as parents who may not have much time to sit down and play on the TV on a daily basis.

I would argue its software also has a more diverse reach; in addition to traditional "core" games like Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3, Monster Hunter Rise, etc, it also offers a lot of the so-called "blue ocean" experiences that appeal to people outside the typical gamer demographic, with titles like Ring Fit Adventure and Switch Sports, both of which have seen great success.

The Switch is overall a more inclusive and versatile platform, and as such reaches a lot of people that the PS4 does not.

Switch and diverse reach is also what lead to many revival of old IP's or Switch getting spiritual successors to game/genre that long time has been seen as dead IP there.

Otome game revival on Switch after Vita.
Shmup having a totally new home on Switch.
Full Swing revival on Srpg
Many many farming games genre coming to Switch
Metroidvania reaching its huge success on Switch with some title even getting huge award.
Return of many old Ip's like Momotaro, Shepherd Crossing
Many NIS smaller games actually get LE release and able to carve its own niche
Visual Novel getting huge support on Switch
Beat Em'Up genre is returning and getting more popular than ever.
Semi Revival of old PS1/PS2 A/AA 3D platformer being back like Kao, Kay, etc
Of course the comeback of Monster Rancher as well.

And many more.

It is really fun seeing how many previous Old IP's is now back on full swing and i kinda believe that Switch is one of the big main component for those title's return.

 

[PixelKnight]

The main reason the Switch will outsell the PS4 is that it simply has broader appeal; its hybrid design allows it to tap into the portable audience as well as the home console audience, and its focus on convenience and accessibility is a better fit for busy adults such as parents who may not have much time to sit down and play on the TV on a daily basis.

I would argue its software also has a more diverse reach; in addition to traditional "core" games like Breath of the Wild, Witcher 3, Monster Hunter Rise, etc, it also offers a lot of the so-called "blue ocean" experiences that appeal to people outside the typical gamer demographic, with titles like Ring Fit Adventure and Switch Sports, both of which have seen great success.

The Switch is overall a more inclusive and versatile platform, and as such reaches a lot of people that the PS4 does not.

I agree with everything you’ve written here. It’s also, with its portable-only models, tapping into the ‘more than one per household’ element that Nintendo’s portables often have done over the years. The device is, for at least a portion of the audience, more of a personal device than a family entertainment box, the same way portables always have been.

 

[Imitatio]

The device is, for at least a portion of the audience, more of a personal device than a family entertainment box, the same way portables always have been.

This. I've never felt the same way about any home console, thus generally being more apathetic towards them. But handhelds have always felt like they were my very own, personal portal into fictional worlds and such. It's always been easier then to also connect to the games on a more personal level than on any home console. Same thing still holds true for me to this very day, nothing can replace the handheld experience for me in that sense.

 

[Aostia82]

The device is, for at least a portion of the audience, more of a personal device than a family entertainment box, the same way portables always have been.

Yes.
in fact I've bought an OLED for me and my self only, leaving the OG model to the "family".
The "family one" is actually for my son, docked below the living-room TV (because we need to check his playtime, you know), even if of course he plays also undocked.
Mine is docked below the studio-TV, that is a room for me and my wife's work (and of course I play it also undocked, or docked attached to the living-room TV that is bigger and better, sometime)

nobody can touch MY OLED!

 

[PixelKnight]

This. I've never felt the same way about any home console, thus generally being more apathetic towards them. But handhelds have always felt like they were my very own, personal portal into fictional worlds and such. It's always been easier then to also connect to the games on a more personal level than on any home console. Same thing still holds true for me to this very day, nothing can replace the handheld experience for me in that sense.

I’ve always felt the same way with portables, in that I tend to look at a console setup under the TV in a similar way to a DVD player or a Hifi or whatever, but a portable as something closer to a phone, an e-reader or MP3 player. Something that’s just for me. Obviously Switch can be either or both which is part of the appeal and why it’s such a good idea!

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Playstation 4's current total of 117.2m is it's final total now that Sony has decided to no longer report shipments.

Almost. PlayStation 4's current total of 117m is its final total now that Sony has decided to no longer report shipments. The 117.2 we sometimes see comes from summing up quarterly/annual numbers where more rounding errors creep in.

 

[Luminoth9090]

Almost. PlayStation 4's current total of 117m is its final total now that Sony has decided to no longer report shipments. The 117.2 we sometimes see comes from summing up quarterly/annual numbers where more rounding errors creep in.

You're right. The quarterly totals add up to 117.2m, the yearly totals add up to 117.1m and Sony last officially reported 117m. However every outlet/site says 117.2m so i just went with that as it's the common number people say even though it is technically 117m.

 

[curl-6]

Sony haven't officially discontinued the PS4, so its possible we may still get an update on its sales further down the line; maybe they didn't update their number because it didn't quite top the next 100k increment, or maybe they just don't like to report low numbers that don't make them look good.

That said, yeah, it's pretty much at the end of the line given the pace to which sales have slowed this year, so while it may squeeze in a few hundred thousand more, it's going to finish below the Gameboy (118.69 million) and the Switch will outsell it by the end of the year regardless.

Within 4 months, Switch will almost certainly be the 3rd highest selling gaming system of all time, behind only the PS2 and DS.

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

Sony haven't officially discontinued the PS4, so its possible we may still get an update on its sales further down the line; maybe they didn't update their number because it didn't quite top the next 100k increment, or maybe they just don't like to report low numbers that don't make them look good.

We can hope, but I think they left us similarly hanging with... pretty much every system released this century? Though it looks like the final PS3 number is only a few months before it went kaput.