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The Nintendo Switch is the seventh best-selling hardware product from Nintendo, and lifetime sales have eclipsed 55.77 million since its launch in 2017.
That’s an increase of 60 per cent year-on-year, according to the company’s latest financial earnings report. It states that the Switch has sold 21.03 million units in the 2019-2020 fiscal year—of this total, the Switch accounts for 14.83 million units, and the Switch Lite accounts for 6.19 million units.
That’s a lot of Switches. Evidently, the console’s performance precedes itself, but how does it look compared to the rest of the hardware released by Nintendo? Resetera user Deeke created charts that examine this console against its predecessors (cheers!).
The Switch is actually the seventh best-selling console. Its 55.77 million lifetime sales is surpassed by the NES, which sold 61.91 million units. The Nintendo 3DS sails past the NES with 75.77 million units sold, and then the Game Boy Advance pips the 3DS to the post with 81.51 million units sold. The top three are the Nintendo DS, Game Boy, and the Nintendo Wii, with 154.02 million units, 118.69 million units, and 101.63 million units respectively.
Still, there’s a lot of the year left. If the Switch snags another 20 million sales in 2020, it will surge to fifth place and best the 3DS. That’s a likely possibility, given that demand for first-party and third-party Switch titles continues to be strong. Moreover, the release of Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Pokémon Sword & Shield expansions, Bayonetta 3, and Metroid Prime 4 will incite sales once again, though we’re not sure when the latter two titles will launch.
