Can Nintendo Reach 130 Million Switch Systems Sold In Just Five Years?

The Nintendo Switch is doing rather well since its release back in March of this year, no doubt thanks to powerhouse games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Splatoon 2. But one brokerage firm believes this is just a small beginning for the company, as it could become an even bigger seller in just a few years' time.

Per this report from NintendoLife, brokerage firm Credit Suisse has made a correction on its estimate of Nintendo Switch systems sold by 2022. Previously, it noted that it would reach 70 million systems sold, with a note on Nintendo stock being "neutral". But now, it's bumped that number up significantly to 130 million, indicating that it's more on an "outperform" level stock-wise.

Keiichi Yoneshima, an analyst that works for the company, feels that the portability of the system will go a long way for fans – as well as home players.

"As Nintendo's Switch is a unique game platform for use as either a console or handheld, there was initially some uncertainty over whether its sales cycle would more closely resemble that of a console or handheld. Although the Switch is currently categorized as more of a console, we expect it to sell like a handheld. Many users are in fact using the Switch as a portable according to a Famitsu survey of users. We previously projected a sales peak at about three years after launch (i.e., in FY3/19) on the assumption of a console-like sales cycle. Now that the Switch looks more likely to sell like a handheld, we update our sales forecast to reflect a longer sales cycle. We now expect the Switch to achieve peak sales about five years after launch (i.e., around FY3/20–21) like a typical handheld game device. We also raise our peak-year sales forecast from 25mn to 31mn units."

The figure might be a bit of a stretch, especially considering that Nintendo is still trying to make enough supply to fulfill demand from the fans. But it did note that it would push units into the millions in time for the holiday season, making it more readily available to fans. We'll have to see if that happens, but considering its success thus far, it's probably already looking into better manufacturing solutions to get more systems out the door. Here's hoping it meets that luxurious goal.

The Nintendo Switch is available now.