Wii was a blockbuster success for Nintendo but the Wii U successor never took off, so all eyes were on the Japanese company when it reported the first sales numbers for its latest console. It looks like the ‘Switch’ is a success.
”The fastest selling console”
Nintendo says that the Switch is “the fastest selling console” that it has ever created. That is remarkable when compared to the Wii console that outsold both PlayStation 4 and Xbox 360 back in the days. Nintendo went on to sell more than 100 million Wii consoles.
Industry observed had little faith that Nintendo could recover from the Wii U flop and take on PS4 and Xbox One with new hardware. Production of Wii U was shut down in late 2016 and the company reportedly sold less than 14 million units during its lifespan.
However, the new Switch hybrid console that you can dock to the TV at home and bring with you on move is off to a great start. In its first month on the market (March 2017), 2.74 million units were sold to customers. The sales figures were confirmed by Nintendo when the company announced its Q1 2017 earnings report.
The company expects to sell an additional 10 million Switch consoles by the end of March 2018.
Zelda is for everyone
When comparing Switch to the now-discontinued Wii U, more Switch consoles have been sold in its first month on the market than Wii U in its first year.
Customers are clearly excited about the Nintendo universe. In the first month, the company sold 2.76 million copies of ’Zelda: Breath of the Wild’ for Switch, meaning 20.000 more copies than the amount of consoles sold.
Nintendo is still struggling to meet demand but the real test is of course the long term. Will Switch continue to be a hot item? It is not powerful enough to deliver 4K or HDR like the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles but it may have the special Nintendo magic that fans have been longing for. Switch is available now for $399.
