Switch vs 3DS in Japan – VGChartz Gap Charts – December 2019 - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 02 February 2020 / 2,472 Views

The VGChartz Gap charts are updated monthly and each article focuses on a different gap chart. The charts include comparisons between the 7th generation and 8th generation platforms, as well as comparisons within the 8th generation. All sales are worldwide, unless otherwise stated.

Switch Vs. 3DS Japan:

Gap change in latest month: 636,685 – Switch

Gap change over last 12 months: 858,657 – 3DS

Total Lead: 2,337,681 – 3DS

Switch Total Sales: 11,627,506

3DS Total Sales: 13,965,187

December 2019 is the 34th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for in Japan. During the latest month the Switch closed the gap to the 3DS by 636,685 units. In the last 12 months, the 3DS has outsold the Switch by 858,657 units. The 3DS is currently ahead of the Switch by 2.34 million units.

The 3DS launched in February 2011 (however, 3DS sales have been aligned to March 2011, since it only launched at the end of February in Japan) and the Nintendo Switch launched worldwide in March 2017. The Switch in its first 34 months has sold 11.63 million units, while the 3DS sold 13.97 million units.

The 3DS has sold 24.59 million units lifetime in Japan through December 2019. The Switch is currently 12.96 million units behind the lifetime sales of the 3DS.

A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.

12 Comments

RolStoppable (on 30 January 2020)

Current gap: 2.34m
3DS's next twelve months: 3.16m
Average expectations for Switch in next twelve months: 4.50m

ireadtabloids RolStoppable (on 30 January 2020)

I enjoyed our discussion about whether or not the Switch could get within a million units of 3DS (2013) vs Switch (2019).

Bofferbrauer2 (on 30 January 2020)

I still remember when everybody said that the Switch couldn't possibly beat the 3DS in Japan...

p0isonparadise (on 30 January 2020)

Switch will start to close the gap for here on out.

HylianSwordsman (on 31 January 2020)

Switch Lite has turned things around for this trend. Let's see if Switch can catch up here. Looks promising.

siebensus4 (on 30 January 2020)

Gap curve left downward pitchfork. Bottom at -3M. Next main resistance at -1.5M.

Alistair (on 31 January 2020)

"The Switch is a massive success" - sells less than 3DS, so the 3DS was a "more massive success"???

-2

link3710 Alistair (on 31 January 2020)

Well, Nintendo did have to cut 3DS price and sell it at a loss to get these numbers, not to mention that Switch is handily beating the 3DS worldwide, even if it's not in this region. So... the 3DS was a success, but not as massive, no.

Alistair (on 31 January 2020)

This is literally a chart showing the Switch is not winning. There's no home console at all. It really is bizarre talking to people around here, up is down and down is up? Do you think all the Playstation users are hoping for Sony to increase prices and lower the performance of their hardware? That seems to be what Nintendo defenders want nowadays. I'm Nintendo's biggest fan, but I knew with the Wii and Skyward Sword that they had some bad apples. Still holding out hope.