The Nintendo Switch has proven to be an astronomical success for Nintendo since its release in 2017. So much so, in fact, that the Switch could very well surpass with Wii in terms of total units sold, which is currently Nintendo's best-selling console.
Now, the Nintendo Switch has managed to surpass another major sales milestone, making for the Switch's most profitable year yet. According to Nintendo's fiscal year-end results, Switch sales are up 81% year-over-year with the console swiftly approaching 85 million consoles sold.
Nintendo has released an official PDF breaking down and detailing the company's end-of-year fiscal results for March 31, 2021. There are some interesting figures within, such as net sales being up 34.4% compared to last year, as well as operating profit up a staggering 81.8% compared to 2020. However, perhaps the biggest news is in regards to the Nintendo Switch's sales, which have reached 84.59 million units sold in total. This news may be unsurprising to some, as early NPD reports from January 2021 reported that the Switch dominated hardware sales in 2020, which made it the second best-selling year for a console in US history.
In 2020, Nintendo sold 28.8 million Nintendo Switch consoles, including both the standard Nintendo Switch consoles as well as the more recent Nintendo Switch Lite. However, some might be surprised to learn that the Nintendo Switch Lite sold 14.7 million units total last year, making up just over half of total Switch sales in 2020. Next, the PDF document mentions Nintendo's overall software sales for the last fiscal year, with 230.88 million units sold. Among the best-selling titles were Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Super Mario 3D All-Stars, and Ring Fit Adventure.
The specific total sales for some of these titles is interesting as well, with Animal Crossing New: Horizons leading the pack selling 20.58 million copies. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold 10.62 million units, while Super Mario 3D All-Stars follows closely behind with 9.01 million units sold. Finally, Ring Fit Adventure rounds out the four top sellers with an impressive 7.38 million units sold. All in all, a total of 36 titles reached the status of "million-sellers," with 22 of those titles being Nintendo developed titles and 14 titles by other software publishers.
The last bit of interesting information from the sales document comes through Nintendo's digital sales figures. In total, Nintendo made over 344.1 billion yen in digital sales, which is a 68.5% increase over the previous fiscal year. Additionally, of the total games sold, 42.8% were sold digitally, which is another increase from the last fiscal year's 34.0%. Overall, digital sales saw a massive spike in 2020 across the board, no doubt in part due to the ongoing pandemic. Those interested in a further breakdown of the data should give the full document a read, but it's clear to see that Nintendo is doing better than ever before thanks to the Nintendo Switch.
Source: Nintendo