Last week, we learned that the Switch had the biggest launch in Nintendo’s history. Just how successful was its launch? Well, according to independent games research group Superdata, the Switch sold 2.4 million units worldwide in its first month on the market.
The new figure suggested that sales cooled in the latter half of the month. Superdata had previously claimed that Nintendo had moved 1.5 million units in the first two weeks after launch. However, the discrepancy was almost undoubtedly attributed to stock scarcity, as the console remains an elusive commodity more than a month after hitting stores.
Superdata’s numbers align with the general consensus that the console has exceeded expectations. Leading up to the system’s launch, Nintendo had stated that it would ship 2 million units worldwide throughout March. Instead, Nintendo has reportedly shipped and sold 400,000 more than the planned allotment.
Following the report, Superdata drastically changed its 2017 Switch sales projections from 5 million to 7.2 million units.
If Superdata’s forecast is accurate, then Nintendo will be prepared to meet those numbers. In mid-March, Nintendo announced that it was doubling first year Switch manufacturing from 8 million to 16 million units. At that time, Nintendo believed that the console could reach 10 million in sales throughout its first full year. It’s important to note that Superdata’s 7.2 million figure is in regards to the calendar year, whereas Nintendo’s 10 million projection runs through March 31, 2018, the end of Nintendo’s 2017 fiscal year.
Although Superdata has a reputation for accuracy, we’ll have to wait until we hear from Nintendo to see just how well the Switch is performing. Nintendo is expected to reveal official worldwide numbers in its fiscal year earnings report later this week.
Last week, Nintendo revealed that it had sold 906,000 Switch consoles in the United States alone throughout March. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on Switch outperformed, rather bafflingly, console sales by 19,000 units.
