We have some new Media Create sales numbers out of Japan, and they’re pretty mind-blowing. Nintendo has been doing some incredible work, and the Nintendo Switch is selling faster than anyone could have anticipated. Last week alone, from December 18 to December 24, it’s reported that 303,504 Nintendo Switches were sold in Japan. This brings the current cumulative total for December to 844,243 units, and 3,258,083 units since launch. Keep in mind: That’s only in Japan, and Japan accounts for about 25% of Nintendo’s global hardware and software sales.
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NintendoSoup made a very interesting observation. At this rate, the Nintendo Switch is actually outpacing what the original PS2 did when it launched in Japan. The PS2, you will recall, is the best-selling home console of all time. The PS2 launched at the beginning of March, just like the Switch did, and by this time in 2000 it had sold a total of 3,016,622 units. The Switch it outpacing the PS2 by almost a quarter-million units, and that has analysts talking.
It’s astounding to think that Nintendo originally set a goal to sell 10 million Nintendo Switches in the financial year ending in March 2018, and then upped that goal to 14 million after things really started taking off. Well, that 10 million sales milestone was crushed by mid-December, and Nintendo will be coming very close to its 14 million goal by the beginning of January, with a few months to spare. There can be no doubt that they will meet and exceed their goal.
But how far back to we push the goalposts, now? When president Kimishima stated that he’d like to see the Switch surpass sales of the Wii, people scoffed. Now we see the Switch outpacing the best selling console of all time without breaking a sweat. I honestly think that we could see it happen; the Switch really might usurp that throne and become the best-selling console of all time. Its portability keeps it relevant in an Eastern gaming market that has turned largely to mobile gaming, and the Western world is loving taking its console games on the go as well.
The Switch strikes an alluring balance, and I wholly expect Nintendo to refine and update the hardware over time. They’re in it for the long-haul, and things aren’t going to slow down.
