Switch vs DS Sales Comparison - April 2021 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 June 2021 / 4,295 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 PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and Nintendo Switch, as well as with older platforms. There are articles based on our worldwide estimates, as well as the US, Europe, and Japan.
This monthly series compares the aligned worldwide sales of the Nintendo Switch and the Nintendo DS.
The DS launched in November 2004 in North America, December 2004 in Japan, and March 2005 in Europe, while the Nintendo Switch launched worldwide in March 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.
Switch Vs. DS Global:
Gap change in latest month: 5,327,957 - DS
Gap change over last 12 months: 639,308 - DS
Total Lead: 8,510,533 - DS
Switch Total Sales: 84,880,177
DS Total Sales: 93,390,710
April 2021 is the 50th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the DS by 5.33 million units when compared to the Switch during the same timeframe. In the last 12 months, the DS has outsold the Switch by 639,308 units. The DS is ahead of the Switch by 8.51 million units.
The 50th month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is April 2021, while for the DS it is December 2008. The Switch has sold 84.88 million units, while the DS sold 93.39 million units during the same timeframe.
The Nintendo DS sold 154.02 million units lifetime. The Nintendo Switch is currently 69.14 million units behind the lifetime sales of the DS.
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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If Switch can keep up with the DS this coming year, then it has a good chance to sell around the same, if not more than the DS did.
The coming year marks the last one where the DS sold exceptionally well. Next year it will still sell very well, with ~20M. But from there, it will just add another 10M in total sales in part because the pricecut of the 3DS killed it's legs, and I don't see anything similar happening to the Switch.
If Nintendo's public messaging is to be believed, there won't be a replacement until holiday 2024-holiday 2025. So I agree.
but in the comparison it must be considered that Switch is like saying Nintendo, DS was not the whole Nintendo, it would have to sell a lot more to be comparable
Of course, April vs December, that's why the gap is wider for now
Switch needs to sell more in 2022 than in 2019 for a chance to beat DS, which means next year must also be a 20M+ year for Switch – which is quite possible if we see 30M this year.
That won't be hard, only a huge drop off would lead to a sub 20mil year and we already know of Pokèmon Legends: Arceus and Splatoon 3. I would be surprised if the year would end below 22mil.
DS had massive holiday season and this is why the Switch took a big hit. But i do believe that it will be able to keep up the pace since it will sell around 30 millions this year. In the long run, it will be able to catch it up since the DS fell off quickly and Switch is still very healthy with again, revision and price cut still on the way.
Nintendo needs a switch pro now just like DS had DSi
Aie...
Under "Switch" are graphed two consoles, I don't think there are a lot of "home gamers" but there are. The DS's greatness is this chart, one console beats two good consoles.
The thing most people usually use to differentiate between models of the same device and different devices is the library. Switch Lite and OG Switch have less games that play on one model but not the other (games that don't support handheld mode or need detached Joyons), than DS and DSi. Even not considering the GBA-slot that some models missed (as that is backwards compatibility), the DSi had a bunch of games only working on that model (more than 300 actually, although most released only in some regions). Still that wasn't enough to be considered their own library, so both models are counted as the same device. But you consider the addition of internet, download games and camera as less of a differentiation than a handheld only variant?
