Switch vs Wii Sales Comparison in the US - Switch Closes the Gap in August 2020 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 26 September 2020 / 4,070 Views
The VGChartz sales comparison series of articles are updated monthly and each one focuses on a different sales comparison using our estimated video game hardware figures. The charts include comparisons between the 7th generation and 8th generation platforms, as well as comparisons within the 8th generation. There are articles based on our worldwide estimates, as well as the US, Europe, and Japan.
This monthly series compares the aligned US sales of the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo Wii.
Switch Vs. Wii US:
Gap change in latest month: 151,408 - Switch
Gap change over last 12 months: 93,557 - Switch
Total Lead: 6,918,032 - Wii
Switch Total Sales: 21,428,833
Wii Total Sales: 28,346,865
August 2020 is the 42nd month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for in the US. During the latest month, the Switch caught up to the Wii when you align the launches by 151,408 units. In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the Wii by 93,557 units. The Wii is currently ahead of the Switch by 6.92 million units.
The Wii launched in November 2006, while the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.
The 42nd month for the Nintendo Switch is August 2020 and for the Wii it is April 2010. The Switch has sold 21.43 million units, while the Wii sold 28.35 million units during the same timeframe.
The Wii sold 41.70 million units in the US during its lifetime. The Switch needs to sell another 20.27 million units to outsell the Wii.
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.
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The Wii was the beast incarnate!
2010 is the last huge year for Wii. (but Switch 2020 will easy be bigger than that). Then in 2011 it sold good but nothing too impressive, 2021 Switch will be a lot higher than that, and then 2012 and after Wii basically died. Switch won't drop so much in 2022 and 2023, it is going to win this battle by a good margin.
The switch can do it
I expect a gap of 2M in favor of Wii after Switch's holidays this year. Gap curve is going to leave the downward channel.
Wii trend died out after 5 years, it's sales flatlined . Switch will easily pass it, it's a console made for hardcore gamers.
Yes! Switch will do it! Beware the pro model 😎
Even with the monster momentum the Switch currently has, it barely matches the one of the Wii. It will be interesting to see if Switch can sustain said momentum longer, which would help it to get closer to Wii or even beat it.
Wii is at the end of it's legs while the Switch is just getting started. After this year, the Wii only sold another 7M in the US total, and Switch will sell much more than that following this year. So from here on out, Switch should slowly recoup the gap it got from the Wii over the last years and then overtake the Wii in the end.
@Bofferbrauer: you mean Wii sold only 7M more, after the holidays which aren't yet in the launch-aligned sales? Because in the graph above I see Wii selling another 13M-14M after this point we are currently at. To close that Switch has to sell another 21M, or as much as it sold so far. That is possible, but far from easy considering it is selling currently enormously so people may ask if this year is the peak year for Switch.
@Mnementh: 7M after the year of 2010, which is what the Switch is fighting against this year. But if you take this month as baseline, then it's still 14M, true.
But you seem to have missed my point: That 2010 was the last good year for the Wii, and even then it was slowing down throughout summer and fall (though still had a big holiday push).
Wii will start to slow down while the Switch is accelerating now towards the holiday season, and while the Wii will retake the lead after it's holiday season, it will never be as big anymore as it is right now and then melt away until the time comes that the Switch will overtake the Wii.
