Nintendo has shipped over 1 million Nintendo Switch consoles in China since the system launched in the country in late 2019, according to the company's Chinese partner Tencent.
The Nintendo Switch officially launched in China on December 10, 2019. In China, the system sells for 2,099 yuan; the equivalent of $323. Consoles sold in the country are locked and, unlike Switches sold in other countries, can only play games approved by Chinese regulators. As of now, only 13 games have been approved for the Chinese market. Despite this, Nintendo had seemingly been on track to overtake Sony in China for a few months now.
With these new sales numbers, the Switch has officially outsold both the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One to become the most popular system in the country. In fact, with 1 million sales the Switch has outsold the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One combined.
Sales of the system were slow at first, due to the Covid pandemic and there only being a small number of games available at release. Sales have picked up though, likely in no small part due to the success of Ring Fit Adventure in China. The home exercise game proved popular in Japan and the West, and this seemingly carried over to China, as well. Due to the country's proximity to Nintendo's homeland of Japan, Nintendo properties like Mario and Pokemon have been fairly well known in China, even before the Switch made its official debut there; which probably also played a part.
This is momentous for Nintendo. With 1.4 billion potential customers, China is a goldmine for the console manufacturer, as it has so much room for growth in a country with millions of gamers and an open console market. Microsoft certainly isn't sleeping on this opportunity either, with rumors of it debuting the Xbox Series X in China sometime this year.
But Nintendo still has a long way to go before it can truly reap the rewards of the Chinese Market. Video game consoles were banned in the country until 2014, with the only way to get them being the Chinese grey market during that time. So Nintendo can't rely on nostalgia to move sales, since very few people in China have played Nintendo games before now. Right now, PC and mobile are far more popular in the country than consoles; most Chinese gamers play on those platforms, with games like Fall Guys getting China-exclusive mobile releases. So, Nintendo will have to play on the strength of its exclusives to really succeed in the country.
Source: Reuters