A Switch of fortune: Nintendo says Switch could beat Wii U lifetime sales in one year

Like an exceptionally under-achieving older sibling, the Wii U continues to make the Nintendo Switch look like a child prodigy – in just six months the Switch has managed to sell half the number of consoles the Wii U did in its five year lifetime.

According to Reuters, the Switch has at this point sold just under 8 million units and the company is now forecasting one year sales of 14 million rather than its original 10 million.

For context, it took the Wii U five years to sell 13.56 million consoles. Managing to beat five years of sales in just one is a fairly good indication that Nintendo has created a hit with the Switch, or at the very least underlines just how much of a failure the Wii U was.

Switch success

Nintendo has recorded revenue of 219.9 billion Japanese yen ($1.9 billion) for the quarter, which is significantly more than the 174 billion yen expected.

In terms of software, in the past six months alone Nintendo has managed to sell more than 22 million Switch games, bringing the total number to over 27 million.

These numbers don’t even take the recently launched Super Mario Odyssey into account. Given the high levels of anticipation for the game and the outpouring of critical acclaim, it’s likely these numbers will increase significantly in the run up to Christmas.

Unsurprisingly, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild is currently the highest selling Switch title, with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe coming up quickly behind it.

Nintendo has also reported a 55 per cent increase in its digital sales, something which can probably be attributed to the Switch given the number of popular digital-only third-party titles it supports.

Dealing with demand

So, the Switch is certainly proving to be a popular release for Nintendo and it seems likely that the only thing that could significantly hinder its success at this point is Nintendo itself.

In order to give the console the best possible chance of achieving its full sales potential Nintendo will now have to ensure that there are enough consoles in supply to meet demand, something which it’s been struggling with.

This is something Reggie Fils-Aimé, head of Nintendo America, recently expressed regret over and promised the company is working hard to change.

Given the success of the Switch, the continued success of the DS line, the popularity of the NES and SNES Classic miniatures and the ongoing push into the mobile market it’s highly likely 2018 is going to be a strong year for Nintendo.