Switch vs DS Sales Comparison in Japan - March 2024 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 17 April 2024 / 3,475 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: 259,409 - Switch
Gap change over last 12 months: 3,274,170 - Switch
Total Lead: 284,083 - DS
Switch Total Sales: 32,629,353
DS Total Sales: 32,913,436
March 2024 is the 85th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for in Japan. During the latest month, the Switch has outsold the DS by 259,409 units when you align the launches.
In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the DS by 3.27 million units. The DS is currently ahead of the Switch by 0.28 million units.
The 85th month for the Switch is March 2024, while for the DS it is December 2011. The Switch has sold 32.63 million units, while the DS sold 32.91 million units during the same timeframe. The DS sold current Switch sales in month 77.
The DS has sold 32.99 million units lifetime in Japan. The Switch is currently 0.36 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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We are about to witness history
Switch will surpass the NDS in May this year. Hopefully sooner :)
Maybe after the Golden Week
Unbelievable. I didn#t think that would happen. Now can it happen worldwide too?
That declaration is just tempting fate
Not so sure about that at this point. Switch probably shipped around 2.5M this last quarter. If so, then they hit 16M+ this FY year and almost 142M total. 10M for the upcoming FY would be a realistic goal and totally doable, especially if Switch 2 doesn't come until next March. That would bring Switch to almost 152M.
They would only need 8M+ to beat PS2 if that happens. Which, even the Wii sold 4M after the Wii U came out, and that was after it had already slowed down to a crawl at that point, and hadn't even hit 10M the previous FY. So...another 8M for Switch would be totally doable even after a successor launches. Provided Nintendo doesn't just end production like Sony did.
I've said this before a few times, but absolutely Switch can do it even after Switch 2 releases if Nintendo does everything right. If Switch 2 is fully backwards-compatible, that makes buying a current Switch still fine for a lot of people knowing their game libraries will carry over. It definitely helps out sales going forward, knowing their games are obsolete.
If Switch 2 is at $399, big N' should just drop the OLED Switch ($349) from the lineup, but continue Switch base at $299 and Switch Lite at $199. If Switch 2 is really aggressive and releases at $349 or even $299 again (I would highly doubt that last price), Nintendo could still drop Switch base/OLED models and keep Switch Lite going alongside it.
Incredible momentum over the past 2 years. Beating the DS in Japan is no easy feat!
The graph has the shape of a canyon
id argue more of an upside-down mountain, though I can certainly see the canyon.
That's a sharp slope
I wonder if the Switch will beat the DS during the Golden Week?
Seeing that DS graph in Japan always made me scratch my head - as if sales went through clipping circuitry, instead to saturate slowly, as it's usual.
