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Switch vs DS Sales Comparison - July 2023

Switch vs DS Sales Comparison - July 2023 - Sales

by William D'Angelo , posted on 03 September 2023 / 7,701 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 Sales Comparison - July 2023

Switch Vs. DS Global:

Gap change in latest month: 48,461 - DS

Gap change over last 12 months: 542,172 - DS

Total Lead: 14,928,413 - DS

Switch Total Sales: 128,476,894

DS Total Sales: 143,405,307

July 2023 is the 77th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the DS  by 48,461 units when compared to the Switch during the same timeframe.

In the last 12 months, the DS has outsold the Switch by 0.54 million units. The DS is ahead of the Switch by 14.93 million units.

The 77th month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is July 2023, while for the DS it is March 2011. The Switch has sold 128.48 million units, while the DS sold 143.41 million units during the same timeframe.

The Nintendo DS sold 154.02 million units lifetime. The Nintendo Switch is currently 25.54 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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15 Comments
Slownenberg (on 03 September 2023)

Yea assuming new system next Fall it should really slow down at 145m yeah, I'd put it at ~150m finish. The fact that DS at this time was 15m ahead of Switch just shows how insane the DS was. PS2 had to keep selling for years after PS3 came out to get up to these DS numbers.

  • +3
2zosteven Slownenberg (on 03 September 2023)

the DS also had a Nintendo home console to deal with

  • +1
xMetroid (on 05 September 2023)

Idk how it would end at 145 millions considering it will probably reach 140 millions around end of december/january. It will sell more than just 5 millions next year. Nintendo probably won't fully announce the next system before end of Q2 and Switch will still sell a bit after the release even. Not reaching 150 millions would be wild. So i think it surpassing the DS is still in the cards.

  • +1
Kakadu18 xMetroid (on 05 September 2023)

If they reach their forecast they'll be at 140mil at the end of March 2024.

  • +1
CourageTCD (on 03 September 2023)

Is there any big game release left for the DS at this point? The only one that I can think of is Pokémon Black 2/White 2 in 2012. I hope we don't need to wait until October, with the release of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, to see the Switch surpassing the DS

  • +1
xXMatapuercas3000Xx (on 03 September 2023)

this chart is painful and fun to watch, but it looks like the Switch will end its lifecycle close to 145M. It is still a really astonishing number from the console nobody had faith in it.

  • +1
dane007 xXMatapuercas3000Xx (on 03 September 2023)

If Nintendo was smart they would keep switch till Christmas of 2025. Its still selling like hotcakes without price cut..why kill it early but having it come next year when it's easy money for them now

  • +1
Jumpin dane007 (on 03 September 2023)

I’d say years longer than that. If they are as smart as I believe they are, they’ll use Switch one as a lead into the Switch 2 ecosystem the way most other electronic platform business models do. Price drop it in proximity to the Switch 2 launch (may not be necessary) and release the Switch 2 about 40 USD more than the OLED Switch (so, if they price the new model within the OLED price range, drop it down appropriately. Unify the platform for indie games and lower fidelity games. With higher fidelity games, allow those to be Switch 2 exclusive or with a lower fidelity setting on the Switch, like Witcher 3 - but unified instead of having to buy multiple versions to maintain legacy user investment. That way they don’t have to abandon the lucrative Switch userbase and start from scratch, potentially alienating their user bases, the way they have in the past.

  • 0
dane007 Jumpin (on 05 September 2023)

if the rumours are true and switch 2 is entirely backwards compatible with switch 1 games, then switch 2 will kill switch sales almost instantly. as a consumer wanting to try nintendo handhelds, why buy 2 hardware when one can do both and better.

  • +1
siebensus4 dane007 (on 03 September 2023)

If Nintendo reach their target of 15M at the end of this fiscal year (March '24), I can see a delay of the Switch successor from 2024 to 2025.

  • 0
dane007 siebensus4 (on 05 September 2023)

they will achieve with the games coming out especially with the new 2d sonic. just imagine that during black friday bundled with totk!!. once it starts to fall, all they need is to drop the price and it will go back up again, Its within reach to dethroning ps2 if nintendo plays it smart

  • 0
Slownenberg dane007 (on 03 September 2023)

If they still had a pipeline of games coming out for it in late 2024 and 2025, and did a $50 price cut on all models, for sure. Japan looks like it'd stay strong even without price cuts, but the rest of the world would definitely need that to spur on sales. Japan is Switch's strongest region now which in no way should be the case. But probably all games they've started working on the past couple years have been Switch 2 titles, so can't exactly keep Switch going without big first party games to keep the momentum.

But if they had known beforehand Switch would still be selling this well in 2023, and therefore have planned a pipeline of games for it going through 2024 and 2025 and done a price cut each of those next two years I have no doubt they coulda kept it going until 2026. I personally have no desire right now for a new system, Switch will keep me going for years, but I do want the next 3D Mario and the next Mario Kart, which will of course be next gen launch games, not current gen games.

If they had planned like DK, Star Fox, the next 3D Mario, a 2D Zelda, the next mainline Pokemon, Prime 4, Prime 2 and 3 remasters, Zelda WW & TP, another Mario Party, and Kid Icarus all for Switch plus price cuts they definitely could keep it going to like Spring 2026.

  • 0
dane007 Slownenberg (on 05 September 2023)

we dont need next pokemon game. they need as time as they need to make the next one. they just need new monster hunter, new layton, new pikmin, new toad game, a big update to animal crossing, new splatoon

  • 0
Jumpin xXMatapuercas3000Xx (on 03 September 2023)

This forum was overly pessimistic, but there were still quite a few who did estimate 80m to 150 million units. But optimism was fairly high overall about the console from the time Eurogamer confirmed the leaks. Before that, we didn’t really know what the NX was going to be. Many were expecting it to be a rather unremarkable PS4 clone with some kind of Polaris chip, despite the leaks and Nintendo’s messaging (about platform unification) saying otherwise.

  • +2
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