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Nintendo Switch Lite has had a much more successful first week in Japan when compared to the UK, as the console sold almost 12 times as many units in Japan than in the UK (via two reports by GamesIndustry.biz).
Over in Japan, consumers have taken home an impressive 160,000 units of the new Switch, and sales of the original Nintendo Switch rose by 12,000 units to 64,000 sold during its little brother’s first week compared to last week. But, these numbers fall significantly short of Citibank’s expectations. The financial subsidiary predicted that 300,000 units of Switch Lite would be flying off the shelves, and as such, Nintendo stock has fallen to its lowest point in eight months.
In the UK, the Nintendo Switch Lite has sold approximately 13,500 units in its launch week. That’s a fraction of the sales reported in Japan, and as aforementioned, those were considered to be disappointing. However, the Switch Lite is tailored for a casual gamer, and retailers interviewed by GamesIndustry.biz are not concerned with its dawdling performance. ‘Launch week really isn't the point of Switch Lite,’ one retail executive said.
‘Switch Lite was always going to come into its own come Pokémon. It's ideal as a Christmas present, and we expect sales to ratchet up during November and December. Pre-orders for the special Pokémon Switch Lite have been strong,’ another senior buyer explained. I’m planning on purchasing the Zacian and Zamazenta edition of the Switch Lite, so the math nerds can count me in to their economic forecasts.
Unfortunately, there have already been reports that the Switch Lite is suffering from Joy-Con drift. This hardware malfunction was a blight on its big brother, and would cause the console to react as if the user had moved the analog stick or D-pad even when they hadn’t touched it. Nintendo claims that the Switch Lite analogue stick uses a different design to the Nintendo Switch, but videos of drifting are appearing online only a few days after its launch.
