Nintendo have announced the Nintendo Switch consoles have sold 89.04 million units; with sales figures for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Animal Crossing New Horizons, and more.
The news comes via Nintendo’s recently announced First Quarter Earnings Report [1, 2]. As of August 5th, Net Sales are at ¥322.6 billion JPY (est. $2.9 billion USD); ¥35.5 billion JPY less (almost a 10% less) than the same period last fiscal year. Net profit also fell by almost 13% compared to the same period last year.
It should be noted the prior year saw the COVID-19 pandemic, along with lockdown orders enforced by governments across the world. The Nintendo Switch being the cheaper and more available console (when compared to the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S) were likely factors for its success during an exceptional period.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons also saw record sales, which Nintendo note was “a major driver of the Nintendo Switch platform business.” Likewise, sales of the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite console fell by 21.7%. This was contributed to logistic problems caused by the lockdown, and semiconductor shortages.
While this meant only sold 4.45 million units, Nintendo Switch consoles have sold a total of 89.04 million units. WCCFTech reports this places it above the total lifetime sales of the PlayStation 3 (87.4 Million units), and the Xbox 360 (80 Million units). For comparison, the Nintendo Wii sold 101 million units. Nintendo reportedly aim to ship 20.5 million units by end of March 2022.
Worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch have ballooned since launch. From 32.27 million (February 2019), to 34.77 million (April 2019), 36.87 million (July 2019), 41.67 million (October 2019), 52.48 million (January 2020), 55.77 million (May 2020), 68.30 million (November 2020), 79.87 million (February 2021), to 85 million (March 2021).
The lifetime sales have beaten the Nintendo 3DS, and the Game Boy Advance. Launched March 3rd, 2017, the Nintendo Switch became the fastest selling console in US history 10 months later. The console would go on to break the record for the best selling console in consecutive months; at 22 months.
Software sales were down 10.2% from the last quarter (to 45.29 million units), but major titles include New Pokemon Snap (2.07 million), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (1.69 million), Mario Golf: Super Rush (1.34 million), and Animal Crossing New Horizons (126 million).This also marks the first time Animal Crossing has not been Nintendo’s top seller in a quarter practically since launch.
In total, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe has now sold 37.08 million units, and Animal Crossing New Horizons has sold 33.89 million units.
Image: Nintendo
