Nintendo announced over the weekend that sales of its Switch console had reached 100 million units by the end of 2021, less than five years after its release.
For comparison, Nintendo’s previous console, the Wii, has sold 102 million since 2006. The Game Boy and Game Boy Colour, released in 1989 and 1998 respectively, sold a total of 118 million. And the best selling console of all time, the PlayStation 2, sold 155 million.
These are great numbers for the Switch, especially considering the numerous production delays Nintendo have faced in the past two years. The OLED model of the console was released in October, and has been largely unavailable due to components shortages.
Nintendo sold about 19 million Switch consoles in April-December, 2021, compared to 25 million a year prior. Revenue fell 6 per cent.
Nintendo has again downgraded its forecast for the fiscal year, planning to sell 23 million Switch consoles, compared to its previous forecast of 24 million, which was revised from a November figure of 25.5 million.
Despite this, Nintendo has upgraded its full-year earnings, raising both its revenue and profit by 50 billion yen (A$611 million) to A$2 billion and A$4.86 billion, respectively.
This March marks five years since the Switch was first release. President Shuntaro Furukawa last year said Switch is “only in the middle of its life cycle as a game console,” which suggests that Nintendo will continue to support the console with games and marketing might.
During April-December, software sales rose 2 per cent, to 179 million, due to recent game Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl.
Nintendo released Pokemon Legends: Arceus last week.
