The Nintendo Switch has seen incredible sucess ever since its release in 2017. This console is a hybrid of TV and handheld gaming that allows fans to enjoy any number of games at home or on the go at any time. This includes the latest model, the Nintendo Switch OLED, which is an enhanced version of the original, with improvements on internal storage, audio, as well as an OLED screen. The amount of console units that have shipped ever since it released has been quite high, and is close to surpassing a historic milestone.
Earlier this year, a PDF document was released detailing the company's end of year fiscal earnings. This included how many Nintendo Switch consoles were sold, along with other figures. The biggest of them all was the Nintendo Switch's lifetime sales reaching a historic milestone, selling over 84 million units in total, and managing to have a profit of 81.8% when compared to 2020. Nintendo's latest financial report indicates that the sales are not only healthy, but will soon overtake the company's other best selling console, the Wii.
It's been widely speculated that the Switch could surpass the Wii in sales, and the financial report that was recently released by Nintendo is a strong indicator of that. It shows that the Switch has sold 8.3 million consoles, with 6.45 million being the standard models and 1.82 million being the Switch Lite. This brings the console's lifetime sales to approximately 93 million sold, close to the Wii's 101 million units.
While the Nintendo Switch has been a booming success even in the middle of the pandemic, the operating profit was lower than last year's six month period, dropping from 291.4 billion yen ($2.5 billion) to 219.9 billion yen ($1.9 billion). The company also announced that it is cutting the annual Switch shipment forecast predictions from 25.5 million to 24 million units, as a result of the ongoing semiconductor shortage.
Despite the shortage to produce more consoles and the reduced profits, the Nintendo Switch continues to be a massive success regardless. This can be seen with the company's software sales as well, reaching over 681 million games sold. The best selling games being Mario Kart 8 Deluxe with Animal Crossing: New Horizons following it close behind in second. The release of New Horizons in particular was one of the biggest reasons why the Nintendo Switch console has been so popular in 2020.
Source: Nintendo