Switch Ships 139.36 Million Units as of December 2023 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 06 February 2024 / 6,722 Views
Nintendo has released its latest hardware and software figures for the Nintendo Switch through December 31, 2023. Shipment figures for the Nintendo Switch reached 139.36 million units, while 1,200.10 million Switch games have been shipped lifetime.
For the quarter ending December 3, 2023, Nintendo shipped 6.9 million Switch units and 66.87 million Switch games.
Breaking down the 139.36 million lifetime shipped figure for the Switch, it has shipped 53.85 million units in the Americas, 36.15 million in Europe, 33.34 million in Japan, and 16.03 million in the rest of the world.
The regular Nintendo switch model accounts for 92.98 million units of the 132.46 million Switch consoles shipped worldwide. The Switch Lite accounts for 23.20 million units and the Switch OLED accounts for 23.18 million units.
Nintendo's forecast for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2024 has increased by 500,000 to 15.50 million. If Nintendo is able to hit its forecast it would bring lifetime Switch shipment figures to 141.12 million at the end of March 2024. This would be 12.9 million behind lifetime sales of the Nintendo DS.
Nintendo for the nine month period ending December 31, 2023 reported net sales were up 7.7 percent to ¥1,394.8 billion ($9.40 billion) and operating profit grew 13.1 percent to ¥464.41 billion ($3.13 billion).
Here are the top 10 best-selling Nintendo Switch first-party titles:
- Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 60.58 million
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons – 44.79 million
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – 33.67 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild – 31.61 million
- Super Mario Odyssey – 27.65 million
- Pokemon Sword / Pokemon Shield – 26.17 million
- Pokemon Scarlet / Pokemon Violet – 24.36 million
- Super Mario Party – 20.34 million
- The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom – 20.28 million
- New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe – 17.20 million
Other Nintendo Switch first-party sales:
- Luigi’s Mansion 3 – 13.98 million
- Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury – 13.17 million
- Nintendo Switch Sports – 12.48 million
- Mario Party Superstars – 12.31 million
- Super Mario Bros. Wonder – 11.96 million
- Splatoon 3 – 11.71 million
- Pikmin 4 – 3.33 million
- Super Mario RPG – 3.14 million
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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Those game sales numbers. Holy smokes! And I see no reason why Switch will not hit/surpass DS numbers in its last year before the new system releases.
Its really up to the Switch 2 now. If the Switch 2 launches this year as everyone expects, its probably not gonna make it unless: the Switch 2 is really $400+ and the Switch 1 gets a hefty price cut (I know not likely but hey it could happen). Right now, in Japan the Switch is down by about 40%. If that holds and is WW we are looking at about 6.5 million units for the current fiscal (assuming the get the 15.5 million goal with this final quarter). After that it will probably top out at 4 million. So, smart money says they come VERY close to matching the DS but just fall short. If the Switch 2 can come in at $300 then there is no way in hell the Switch 1 beats DS...
What does the switch 2 has to do with it? People who will buy the switch from now are late adobters, they're FAR from the same audience that buys a new expensive system at launch. It's like the trolls that say the ps3 helped the ps2 longevity. What, did ps2 owners buy another ps2 because the ps3 was failing? And don't be ridiculous with this $300 tag.
I don't get why people on this site expect Switch to fall under DS and PS2. When even the 3ds managed to sell 10m after the Switch was released, so even if the successor was launched tomorrow, Nintendo could still release a final revision for the current model, just as they did with the new 2ds XL in 2017 and at the bare minimum, we should expect 10m extra sales. And the successor hasn't even been announced yet, so at least surpassing the DS sales seems locked to me.
While I would be shocked at this point seeing Switch undersell DS, the situation with 3DS was certainly very different. 3DS hit its twilight years after the Switch had already released. Nintendo’s vision back then was still fixated on keeping home console and handheld separated (that was until the hybrid Switch truly proved to be a success).
I don't see why this is any different. It's obvious Switch is covering the handheld market for Nintendo. We should expect another Pokemon in the platform even if the successor is out, just like it happened with Pokemon Black and White 2 and Pokemon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon. There's no way Switch is selling less than 10m this year alone if they're expecting 2.5m for the current quarter. After this, an extra 6 million for surpassing even the PS2 seems achievable.
More than 10 times what wii u sold and almost double the 3ds this has to be the biggest comeback in gaming.
Yeah, I think the only real competition in that regard would be Wii after Gamecube, X360 after the OG Xbox and in North America Genesis after the Master System
You can already buy Switch 2 level hardware. Please Nintendo don't mess this up. The Ayn Odin 2 already has a faster CPU than the Switch 2 will have, and the GPU is close also. Just $299. Hall joysticks, and 1080p screen.
The Retroid 4 Pro is also very fast, has the same CPU as the Switch 2 is expected to use, but a half speed GPU at best, but it is only $199.
In fact all the superior Chinese handhelds have created the supply chain Nintendo can use for the Switch 2.
why is vgchartz so delayed? Still saying 137M on the front page for switch sales
There is a very easy way for Nintendo to sell a crazy number of Switchs. The Switch Lite is $200. Make a larger one for $250 and add back in the video output and make it OLED. Voila.
Switch OLED Mini.
Even better shrink the SoC and release a fanless model. Samsung will do it for cheap. 8nm or 5nm.
Absolutely insane #s. WOW
Switch keeps up switchin it!
Are they gonna beat the almighty PS2? Maybe by June 2025?
Oh man! I lowkey hope Nintendo waits to release the next-gen Switch till 2025 just in the hopes that the Switch can surpass the PS2 lol. Can't believe how long it's been since a console had these kinds of sales numbers!
Loving the sales of Super Mario RPG!
only problem if Nintendo did choose to take that route would be a difficulty in maintaining relevancy. Nintendo's currently the big game developer, coming off of a year two two GotY contenders (one of which almost winning). Carrying hype into the next system is crucial! Would be cool seeing the Switch as the new champion...but ultimately, the cost which would hit the next system is not ideal.
G2ThaUNiT has a point. When a new console releases the predecessor sells YoY at -50% decline, for every following year.
Blazerz, you also have a point that because the prices are so distinctive it won’t hurt Switch sales in comparison to pass successor releases.
That's absurd, it'll obviously have a huge impact. Loads of people will want the new and much better device and will have enough money that the price difference won't matter enough to them, especially if it's backwards compatible. Do you really think the Switch would have sold as well as it did last year if the Switch 2 released back in 2022?
This. At least in Japan the OLED is dominating the Switch sales even at this late stage. So Switch buyers aren’t particularly price sensitive. Are we really expecting that they will buy a console on its way out instead of one on its way in just to save $100?
In this economy, yes.
That matters but not to a huge degree considering the OLED model was by far the best selling one last year.
Yeah this isn't gonna be a PS2 vs PS3 situation where the new one is pretty expensive and the old one very cheap so by late 2024 it'll be a bad idea for the average consumer to buy a Switch instead of just saving up some more for the Switch 2.
The rumored successor, it is NOT a Switch 2 (semantics whatever), is to have two SKU's. One that is $399 and a more "pro" $449. Are you saying that Nintendo won't put a price cut on their to be old console once the successor releases?
Considering all the inflation that's happened that wouldn't really be surprising. Even if they do a price cut it won't be a big one that makes a significant difference.
I predict the upcoming forecast for hardware for the Switch will be 10M units. Just below -30% decline.
When the successor is released the Switch will drop to 5M as the next upcoming FY forecast.
Also I referenced past successor releases (I made a typo saying pass).
An example: DS had a -79% decline the same FY the 3DS came out.
PS4 had a -55% decline the same FY the PS5 released.
The Wii had a -72% decline the same FY the WiiU was released.
I'm saying that the Switch will not see a decline as steep as what we have seen in the past.
Why do you think it won't be as steep? Considering it'll be over 145m by the time the successor launches there's really not gonna be that many more people to sell the original Switch to. The OLED now making up most Switch sales and the growth of the annual playing users slowing a lot shows that a large chunk of Switch sales in the past year were existing owners upgrading and there's not gonna be many more people doing that by the time the Switch 2 launches.
Nintendo knows.
The 3ds costed like $20 more than the ds and the wii stopped getting support long before the wii u.
The 3ds costed like $20 more than the ds and the wii stopped getting support long before the wii u.
The DSiXL was $169.99 in 2010 (after it dropped from $199.99) and dropped again to $129.99 in 2012.
The 3DS released at $249.99 in 2011 and dropped to $169.99 in 2012.
This is only a comparison of the most high end DS to the basic entrance 3DS prices.
We need a better understanding of what the prices were so if you are gonna tell me facts, you better tell me the rest of the facts.
The DS Lite went from $129.99 in 2010 to $99.99 in 2011.
The DSi went from $169.99 in 2009 to $149.99 in 2010 and dropped again to $99.99 in 2012.
So here are DS prices compared to 3DS:
3DS: $249.99 & $169.99
DSiXL: $169.99 & $129.99
DSi: $149.99 & $99.99
DS Lite: $99.99
The Wii once the WiiU released sold 5.77M which is 42% of what WiiU sold in total. Does that look like a loss of support? Why did they keep producing Wii hardware 2 years after the WiiU if they apparently gave up support then?
Number 3 on the all time console sales list, that where it will stay, congrats to the switch
All hail to the Future King! Switch is now within striking distance of the PS2! When its all said and done, The Switch will be the best selling console of all time! Facts.
