Over the course of the Wii U’s lifetime, the console shifted 13.5 million units, which has now been beaten in less than a year by the Nintendo Switch. Since it launched back in March 2017, the Switch has shifted 14 million units, outselling its predecessor in a relatively short space of time.
The Switch has become the fastest-selling home console in US history, selling 7.23 million units in the last quarter, hitting 14.86 million consoles sold by the end of 2017. With this news, Nintendo has made alterations to their forecast for the financial year, which ends in March. This includes a 33.3% greater operating profit of 160 billion yen rising from 1.02 trillion yen in revenue, which works out at around $1.47 billion and $9.38 billion respectively. At an earnings briefing, Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima revealed: “Switch sales during the holiday season were stronger than expected in Japan, the United States and Europe.”
Sales are expected to reach 20 million this year, which wouldn’t be much of a surprise given how fast they are moving. Games that have been released have been especially impressive, with Mario Odyssey selling over nine million copies since it released in October, making it the best selling game on the console, followed closely in sales by Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
