Switch vs DS Sales Comparison in Japan - February 2023 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 11 March 2023 / 4,052 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 Japanese sales of the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo DS.
The DS launched in December 2004 in Japan and the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017. Therefore, the normal holiday periods and the Japanese Golden Week holiday for the two consoles do not lineup.
Switch Vs. DS Japan:
Gap change in latest month: 58,688 - Switch
Gap change over last 12 months: 1,338,866 - Switch
Total Lead: 3,196,061 - DS
Switch Total Sales: 28,421,509
DS Total Sales: 31,617,570
February 2023 is the 72nd month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for in Japan. During the latest month, the Switch has outsold the DS by 58,688 units when you align the launches.
In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the DS by 1.34 million units. The DS is currently ahead of the Switch by 3.20 million units.
The 72nd month for the Switch is February 2023, while for the DS it is November 2010. The Switch has sold 28.42 million units, while the DS sold 31.62 million units during the same timeframe. The DS sold current Switch sales in month 60.
The DS has sold 32.99 million units lifetime in Japan. The Switch is currently 4.57 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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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If Switch can outsell DS in Japan, I think it's likely to surpass it worldwide, so this will be an interesting race to follow.
Something to bear in mind. The Switch may have outsold the DS over the last 12-months aligned in Japan by 1.3m but Globally the DS has outsold the Switch by over 3m. Switch is closing the gap in Japan quick, but the gap between DS and Switch launch aligned globally is still widening for the moment. Japan is going to be a lot easier to win as it only needs to increase it's current lifetime sales by 16%. Globally it needs to increase it's current lifetime sales by 26%.
I'm not saying it won't win globally but doing better in Japan isn't necessarily a strong indicator it will. NA and especially Europe are fairing a lot worse launch aligned. Japan isn't the region to base a global battle on.
That's a good point. I don't expect it to outsell the DS in EU but NA is probably a better region to watch.
That’s likely accurate as the rest of the world tends to follow the trends in Japan.
True, I didn't even consider that but Switch is doing a lot better than DS in the Rest of World countries.
I think globally it mostly comes down to the next system at this point and how much of a hard transition Nintendo's going to take when they release it. With inflation and stuff I fully expect their next system to launch at $400 so the Switch could still be an attractive cheaper alternative for a while if Nintendo keeps producing them. It would still be extremely difficult though if the next system does indeed launch early next year as the rumors say, the Switch will likely still be 15 mil short by then.
For sure. Nintendo could also drop the price of all Switch models to help with sales once Switch 2 is out.
Theoretically they could, but I imagine they will focus more on pushing their new system than the old one
Maybe they'll drop the price before Switch 2 releases. $50 per model would go a long way.
All Nintendo has to do is take the cheap and small <190mm2 AD106 chip, the mobile RTX 4070 at 100W, and stick it in a Wii type console. I love the Wii. Same shape and size, no optical drive, and $300 and faster than a Series X (it has been 3 years and nVidia has moved on). Instead we're gonna get something truly crappy I imagine.
Give us Wii 2 with RTX 4070 mobile. With better controllers. Switch Pro controller type. But better.
race is already over, the DS is replaced by the 3DS, the DS outsold the Switch for the entire lifespan of the DS
By your logic, DS lost then. The longer a console lasts without a replacement, the more successful it is.
no, but future Switch sales are just a sign that Nintendo is holding Nintendo fans hostage, not a sign of any DS versus Switch enthusiasm
Or maybe the Switch keeps selling because people still want to buy it. Shocking, I know!
People buy the Switch because they want to play Nintendo games, not because they like the Switch much.
Give people a choice of buying an RTX 4050 based home console for $300 instead and you'd see.
There's no way in hell they could sell a 4050 based console for 300. Keep dreaming!
It's an RTX 4050, the cheapest card you can buy. Meanwhile the PS4 digital has a GPU twice as large for $400. Jesus. The Xbox Series X has a GPU bigger than the $500 Radeon 6750 XT. I kind of laugh at how little console people know about hardware.
The $400 PS4 launched with the $350 7870, plus bluray harddrive and CPU and ram and everything else added. Basically take the GPU price, add $50, and voila, that's a console price.
$250 for the 4050, plus $50 = $300. Easy to make.
If it's so easy to make, why isn't Nintendo (or any other company) making it then?
Also imagine Nintendo gave you a CHOICE. Would you pick the RTX 4050 console or the Switch for the same money. We know the answer. I noticed you just avoided the answer.
I'd take the Switch because selling the 4050 for 300 would bankrupt Nintendo lol
no it wouldn't, it is the smallest GPU you can buy today, the same size as the Wii GPU or Wii U gpu etc.
The price of a 4050 laptop starts at 999 so there's no way they could sell it for 300.
dude, the Radeon 7870 in the PS4 all by itself cost $350 and the console was $400... the radeon 6650 XT in the PS5 costs $430 by itself, but the console costs $400, the console costs less than the GPU by itself
the 3050 and 4050 cost $250 (or will cost $250), Nintendo could make a console with the 3050 or 4050 as low as $200 USD... and you think they can't sell it for $300
this is the cheapest GPU you can buy, it is a tiny die
the laptop manufacturers are probably paying $150 per chip to nvidia
nintendo pays a set price based on the cost over several years, so you have to look at how much it would cost nvidia to make the 4050 in 1 year and 2 years from now, $100 each is probably what they'd charge Nintendo (and then add extra money for VRAM and ARM CPU cores etc., but no hard drive and no optical drive means way cheaper than the PS4)
I get that but Nintendo has never sold their HW at a loss so I don't see it happening.
it wouldn't be at a loss, when you buy 40 million at a time, you get a price based on the average cost to manufacture over the next few years
the GPU price in the store includes a lot of padding for profit, and retail and more
nvidia sells the GPU to Nintendo for $150 and Nintendo charges $300 or less, no loss on the hardware
this is a 35W GPU... like the Wii
If it's so cheap, why aren't any other companies such as Valve already doing this?
btw the $500 Xbox Series X has a GPU that costs $480, so an extra $20 for the case, power supply, 16GB VRAM, 1TB SSD, and a controller, that's the economics of consoles
10 million sold at a subsidized price, the consoles cost about exactly what the GPU itself costs for a PC
Sony and MS subsidize them with their services. Nintendo doesn't have that option.
i don't think you realize that it is now 2023, and PS5 performance is cheap
the RTX 4050 can do it for a fraction of the cost 3 years later, with 4nm instead of 7nm, and high clock speeds instead of silicon area
So why would Sony raise the price of PS5 instead of lowering it if it's so cheap now?
they didn't raise the price, that was the european dollar collapsing
and Nintendo could use a 4nm chip, Sony is still using a 7nm one, I said the same level of performance is cheaper to make now
I get that but Nintendo is still way too fiscally conservative to ever be a loss leader.
it's not a loss leader... we are talking about the cheapest chip you can make, jeeze
you keep on acting like the rtx 4050 isn't some <$100 chip to make, it is tiny and cheap
If so, I ask you (for the third time) why isn't anyone else making a handheld using it?
it's a custom chip, you have to pay a large down-payment and a make a multi year purchase agreement to get it at scale
unless you can release a 10 million selling console, you can't have one
Well I can't see Nintendo taking that path. You're better off hoping for a Vita 2 lol
