Switch vs DS Sales Comparison in the US - October 2024 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 01 December 2024 / 7,156 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 the US, while the Nintendo Switch launched in the US 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 US:
Gap change in latest month: 32,844 - Switch
Gap change over last 12 months: 926,943 - Switch
Total Lead: 5,780,379 - DS
Switch Total Sales: 46,044,914
DS Total Sales: 51,825,293
October 2024 is the 92nd month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap grew in favor of the Switch by 32,844 units when compared to the DS during the same timeframe.
In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the DS by 0.93 million units. The DS is ahead of the Switch by 5.78 million units.
The 92nd month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is October 2024, while for the DS it is June 2012. The Switch has sold 46.04 million units, while the DS sold 51.83 million units during the same timeframe.
The Nintendo DS sold 53.80 million units lifetime. The Nintendo Switch is currently 7.76 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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Switch is done in the US. It is barely moving. It will have some small boost this holiday and that's it. I don't see it doing more than a million next year. Europe is pretty much the same too
JP is carrying NSW with all its strength atm
Yep, it is. Next year Japan performance will be interesting.
Yeah Japan has been the driving force behind Switch sales for over a year now. Nintendo really should have dropped the price of the Switch a year ago to keep western sales up. Though maybe they purposefully want it less appealing to consumers so that there can be a strong transition to the successor.
nintendo also had the gamecube and wiii up against the ds
Impressive how Switch reached and will surpass PS2, and the huge boom DS had in its numbers after 5 years in the market being already incredible succesful.
It's a bit funny that early in it's career the Switch was selling best in North America and worst in Japan (strictly when counting weekly sales, meaning the highest sales were in NA and the lowest weekly sales in JP), and now it's the other way around, even Europe is now selling more Switch than North America on a weekly basis most of the time
I do not wanna be impolite here and i excuse myself if my comment might sound a bit offensive but only because YOU don't want the Switch to pass the DS/PS2 does not mean it won't. We don't know anything what happens post march 2025. But 3 main exclusives will launch that FY. MP4B, Professor Layton and Pokémon Z-A will be on the Switch for sure. One of these games even has a chance to get delayed to 2026. Pokémon Gen 10 is heavely rumored to come cross gen in late 2026. Switch won't die as soon as Switch 2 comes out as much as you want it.
The comment got broken when editing. Anyway my original comment was about the following:
It's not what I want, but what is the most likely to happen. I can say the same thing - only because you want the Switch to pass the PS2 it does not mean it will. I haven't said that it won't pass the DS, so don't put the DS in there. Also software does not sell hardware at that point in the Switch's life. In September the Zelda title barely did anything. So even if there are 10 more exclusive titles just for Switch 1, it won't boost the sales. US and Europe are busted, they have 1 holiday and 1 more million for the next year to sell and maybe 500k after that and they are done. Japan has maybe 3M more at the very best. So 160M looks too high. Unless Nintendo does not cut the price by at least 70-80$. Then It will probably reach 160M. Also down voting on the comment, does not change the facts and the reality.
I don't think the US and Europe are that busted. Well, fewer Switch is being sold in these places, but that's just what is expected from a console in its 8th year. I also think people overlook the "Other" region. I think it will contribute a lot for Switch's sales in its endlife. In fact, I really wish we would have graphs about that """"region"""". But even though I desagree with you, I voted up your comment as I don't think you said anything far-fetched
They are busted in the sence that they are almost done since the drop there is massive, and will probably continue with full force heading into next year, especially with the launch of the new successor. The other region is on the same boat. I mentioned it recently in one of my other comments. It is 1.6M with October. It will probably pass 2M with the holidays, but other than that, it will too be around 1M for the next year. The only region that is still doing the job done is Japan.
I did not say it will pass the PS2's number wich i highly doubt is true for reasons i mentioned in other threats. The Switch surpassed our expectations (also mine and yours) every year. The Switch's sucessor is not even ANNOUNCED yet, let alone a release date. You do not know what happens post march 2025 and i don't as well. I am not cheering for the Switch to surpass some fantasy number written on a console by its fanatic owner like what happened with PSP and PS2, i am just not excluding the possibility it could happen. But it really seems like you are really afraid of that possibility. I respect you as a person, a gamer and a user of vgchartz, but have you got any idea of how embarrasing your situation WOULD be, IF the Switch actually really surpassed the PS2? "No competition, different audience, kiddy..." would be no excuses.
Like i said I DO NOT SAY Switch will pass PS2, just that its a possibility. IF the Switch just gets in the ballpark of the DS next march, the PS2 is basically smoked.
Of course it's a possibility, I haven't said it's impossible. That's why I gave you my projection how it can happen. If Nintendo makes price cuts on all models it will probably pass the PS2. Or if Nintendo put the successor at very high price (such as 500$ or more) with which gives the casual player more reasons to buy the Switch 1 for the next 2-3 years, then again it can pass the PS2.
And... Embarrasing ? no. I simply said what will happen according to the most likely is scenario. In the scenario where Switch successor would launch at reasonable price and launch actually next year, and not getting delayed to at least 2026 which can further help Switch, and having no price cuts on the Switch I see the projections I wrote.
Even though I want the Switch to pass the PS2, I wouldn't say this 100% guaranted. I am inclened to think it will indeed happen, but It is a race that there's no margin for the Switch to relax and every million units count, every bad month sales counts. And there is no f. way the Pokémon Gen 10 games will come to the Switch 1. Switch 2's launch will be decisive for the result, and we'll have to wait and see. I've been a believer that the Switch will pass the PS2 since it reached 100 millions, so I hope all my cheering won't be in vain
You are aware of te fact there are rumors that Gen 10 (30th Pokémon aniversary) would be cross gen? Switch will be produced till march 2027 at least. First party could come close, 3rd party and indies for sure. Nintendo promised a 10 years production cycle for the Switch and that will happen!
I've heard some people talking about this rumor, but not have read about the rumor itself. Even if this rumor really is a thing, having a cross-gen Pokémon game would be incredibly unusual, considering TPC's historical track
A Pokémon game as cross gen game is "incredibly unusual"? Pokémon Black2/ White 2 for DS in late 2012 nearly 2 years after the 3DS came out was exclusive to the former. Are you aware of that? And MP4B should be 100% cross gen because? A Metroid game being cross gen being very usual? I say Pokémon Gen 10 in late 2026 has a higher chance being cross gen than Metroid Prime 4.
Are you trying to say that a Pokémon game as cross gen game is not incredibly unusual by giving an example of a non-cross Pokémon game? As you just said, Black 2/White 2 were exclusive to the DS, not a cross gen game. And I'm not talking about Metroid games.
Edit: And Black 2/White 2 were out 7~9 months after 3DS's launch, not "nearly 2 years"
Well, I think you've made a mistake about the launch date of 3DS and/or the release date of B2/W2.
3DS was released in February 2011(JP)/March 2011(US/EU), and B2/W2 were released in June 2012(JP)/October 2012(US/EU). So for the Western players, it can be considered nearly 2 years between 3DS and B2/W2. Or more precisely, 1 year and 7 months.
As for Pokémon Gen 10, I don't care too much about that game anyway, no matter it's a Switch 1 exclusive, Switch 2 exclusive or cross gen game. I just want to talk about the possibilities, and speculate on what killer7 was trying to say.
Since we all know that 3ds had backward compatibility, and the Switch 2 will have backward compatibility too, if Gen 10 were to be released as a Switch 1 exclusive at the end of 2026, it would be in a similar situation to B2/W2(Released 1.5 to 2 years after the release of next-gen console, exclusive to old console, but can be played with next-gen console by backward compatibility). So I think this can be happen rather than no f. way. Although, by definition, this is not a cross-gen game.
Anyway, this is just my speculation about what killer7 was trying to say, and it DOES NOT mean that I support his arguments.
You are (very close to) spot on. What i was trying to say is that when Nintendo released a main Pokémon Game close to 2 years after the 3DS launch EXCLUSIVE for the old DS, i would not entirely exclude the possibility of Pokémon Gen 10 being at least cross gen! If they would repeat what happened Pokémon Gen 10 would need to launch exclusive to Switch despite the Sucessor being out around nearly 2 years. I have a hard time believing that but of course I would not exclude this possibility. Cross gen should be the minimum we get. Ignoring a plattform with 155- 160 million sales (maybe even being) the most sold gaming system of all time at the 30th anniversary of Pokémon would be economically foolish in every sence.
Ok, I messed up regarding 3DS's lauch date. I thought it was released in November 2011. But aside from that, I still hold on to my opinion. Black 2/White 2 were NOT cross-gen games, they were launched exclusively to a single console, the DS. There has never been an instance of a cross-gen game made by the Pokémon Company.
Another thing to consider is that B2W2 were sequels, they were not the pair of games that kick start a new generation. These games like X/Y were, are ALWAYS sold in the newest system as a way to entice people to buy them. Nintendo wants the Swtich 2 to sell well, so it defenetly wants the new Gen 10 Pokémon games, with totally brand new Pokémon and region to be exclusively to the Switch 2
US is questionable, but LTD WW it will pass it. I not see any scenario where the DS goes under 155 million! Even if it horribly fails to meet its FC it will do 9 million pushing it over 150 million till march 2025 alone. Another 4 million next year (-60%) will already push it over 154,02 million. -75% in 2026 will squeeze out another million till march 2027 for 155 million. And thats pessimistic.
US is questionable ? with almost 8M left ? No it's not quetionable, the successor is coming, and the Switch is on a big drop this year, It will get to 2.5M with the holidays. Next year it will do 1M and maybe some 500k after that till end of life. There will still be more than 5M left to reach the DS. For worldwide yes, 155M should be possible. Maybe it will finish at 156-157M. It really depends on when the successor will launch, at what price, and if there will be price cut for the Switch. I personally don't believe in the price cut, but that is the only thing that can squeeze few millions more. Or maybe higher than normal price for the Switch 2, which will result in big difference between the two, hence putting the Switch as very affordable budget option for the next few years.
these are some pessimistic projections…NSW should be around 152-153mil by the end of F’25. (4.5-5mil Holiday, 1-2mil early 2025.) For the system to only sell 4-5mil for the remainder of its life (with an exclusive mainline Pokémon holiday release next year) would be pretty shocking imo. Maybe it’ll push 4-5mil F’26, but there’s no chance that’s all the system has left in it. 157mil is definitely the lowest realistic figure for NSW at this point.
I am talking about calendar years in my posts and comments, since it's easier for me. Also no, 5M this holiday is out of reach. The last holiday - 2023, made 5M, and you are saying there won't be any decline now ? Absurd. It will do something like 2M or 2.5M. I expect Switch to be at 148M after the holidays. 5M more next year that is 153M by next year's end. I can see it doing 3-4M at max after that till end of life which will result in 156-157M final total. Given the US and Europe are almost done, Japan is doing 2M next year, and 1M if it's lucky the year after that (since by that time - 2026, Switch 2 should enter in the high sales in Japan). It's not pessimistic, it's realistic. Again, the only thing that can change this future is either price cut or releasing the successor at very high price such as 500$ or more, which will result in very affordable and way cheaper Switch Lite and even OG and OLED models, compare to the new one which will eventually help the sales in those last 2-3 years reach 160M or more. And again, at this point, as we just saw in September, software does not move hardware, so call it even 10 more Pokemons, Zeldas and Metroids if you want, just for Switch 1 till end of life, it won't boost the sales of the system.
NSW shipped 6.9mil during Q3F'24 (132.46mil -> 139.36mil)....where are you seeing 5mil? If 6.9mil was last Q3F'24, then I'd say 4.5-5mil Q3F'25 fits pretty well with YoY trends (or rather, a little worse than YoY trends, since no system seller this year). (If you're talking sold? I assume you're relying on VGChartz estimates? Those aren't official figures...I'd prefer to stick with what is official, if possible?)
As for the rest of your comment, I do not expect the new Pokémon to send sales figures into the stratosphere, though if Pokémon B/W2 was able to give DS a strong July 2012 (more than one year after its successor system released), I don't expect it to be any different for NSW. Sales will bump, and it won't be anything massive, but it'll be enough for me to say with some level of confidence that NSW will be able to move at least 1-2mil for Q3F26.
Worth noting: Nintendo did recently open a Vietnamese factory with goals of producing 4mil NSW units annually well into 2027 (https://www.digitimes.com/news/a20240726PD210/) ...again, it would be a little bit unexpected for NSW to only move 4-5mil for the remainder of its lifecycle following 3-31-2025.
This Vietnamese factory news is the thing I consider the most when I think the Switch will reach 160 million units sold
Switch could get to 160 million+ very well but i doubt a single company would produce 4 million Switchs per year till 2027. That would be 162 million minimum from now on only from that company. I think thats a bit much for 1 production factory. LTD all factories together is more likley but not one. And hey, come on! Don't let our fellow Playstatiom frieds get heart attacks🤣😂
killer7 pls stop lol. You're not helping anyone by throwing insults.
I am working with pure sold numbers, taken from here - VGChartz. Of course shipped numbers are more. Also by holidays I refer to the months who have holiday numbers (more than the normal month). So in my post I meant November + December. For 2023 calendar year, November + December was 5.2M. Switch sold 144.33M as of end of October. I expect it will finish at around 148M by the year end. So 2-2.5M for December and the rest for November.
Pokemon on the DS may moved units, but Zelda in September didn't do anything. I bet games in 2025 and onward won't do much for the Switch. Also having those games in year9 and 10 on the console is not like having a game on year 8 on the DS. Zelda TOTK still had boost effect. But more than 2 years late, title will do nothing or barely anything. About the Vietnam thing. I don't know, I don't buy it very much, it may have another purpose too, I don't know what will come out of it.
Zelda did give a bump. Wasn't massive, but there was a bump, which is exactly my original point. Don't expect anything massive. (Additionally, it wasn't like EoW was gonna sell through >10mil copies, unlike a brand new mainline Pokémon title will do.)
"So it's about 50% drop from last year for november+december." I'm curious how you're arriving at this figure when NSW has not been anywhere near 50% down YoY for any month which wasn't April/May/June (due to Mario Movie + TotK mania)? That just seems aggressively pessimistic without much reasoning.
In Europe and US Switch will end somewhere around the half or little bit over that of what it did last year. So with Japan having no holiday and "rest of the world" region down and on the same numbers for the year till now as Europe and US, it will drop decently from last year. Also when I wrote the 50% I saw the 2.5M number and got mistaken by it and said 50% drop cuz 5.2M is what it did last year. So no 50%, it will be less of a drop, since as I already stated, I expect Switch to finish at 148M by the year's end. That's 3.7M more for both months - December and November. Like I said in the last comment 2-2.5M for December, and the rest of the difference for November.
Also what did Zelda gave ? Switch is around 700k every other month and was 800k for September, and in October the bump is gone. So 100k in total ? that is almost nothing. Let alone title in 2025 or 2026. Just the software aren't factors anymore this late into the lifecycle, surely they were earlier and even as late as 2023 with the TOTK. But saturation point is hitting with every following month and year.
hmm…NSW is only down 30% YoY in EU/USA per VGChartz estimates, and NSW is looking to match JP’s holiday season last year per official figures from Famitsu. Idk maybe I’m just not seeing it, but I remain unconvinced. In any case, this is all just speculation and guesstimation, so not much point in getting into an argument abt it lol.
As far as EoW is concerned, it gave as much of a bump as you would expect a game which sold through 3mil in its first few days. 100k isn’t very small. If Zelda could pull that off, and noting how BW2 influenced DS sales back in July 2012, I remain convinced that a brand new Pokémon would keep NSW in discussion during Holiday 2025, allowing sales to comfortably sit in the 1-2mil region for Q3F26.
The Switch sold almost 5M last year in US, it's 1.7M October included this year. Do you really think It will climb up to something like 3.5M to be just 30% off for the year, and do 50% of it's sales this year just with November and December ? Same goes to Europe, although it was 4.4M there last year, I simply can't see it climbing from 1.7M which it did this entire year, to something over 3M for it to get the 30% drop. This is like making 10 times the number it did for a normal month just in the holidays in it's 8th year. I don't think it's happening.
But having 5.2M last year's holiday - November and December, dropping to 3.7M this year is reasonable and normal. It's not pessimistic. Especially since both Europe and US are barely moving at this point. And the lower you get in sales numbers, the smaller boost you get in the holidays.
100K for monthly sales where you sell 700K almost every month is not big. and 100K when you look sales of the entire year going over 10M is barely anything. Next year or 2026 titles's boost will be even smaller. So not enough to be a factor. It won't move millions. And for 160M lifetime it needs a boost by at least a few millions.
Nintendo Switch was up YoY Q2F25 in NA (0.94mil v 0.85mil) and was unchanged in EU (0.62mil v 0.63mil). The only drops NSW has seen this fiscal year were in Q1 according to official data reported by Nintendo, and that was very expected due to TotK + Mario movie. Based off this data alone, one could literally make an argument that NSW will see a YoY increase Q3F25...but I'm not even saying that. What I'm saying is 40% drop, which is already pessimistic in comparison to Nintendo's official data.
But to entertain your points...
"The Switch sold almost 5M last year in US, it's 1.7M October included this year."
...(i) You're comparing the total American figures to 2024's in-progress figures. (Not to mention: These are estimates, and are unofficial.) (ii) You still fail to address my point: NSW is down 41.9% YoY in NA (according to VGChartz, which is -- again -- unofficial data) w/ almost every month outside of April-July only being around 30-35% down YoY. My estimate of 40% drop, which in terms of units shipped places NSW in 4-5mil range for shipped units, fits very well with VGChartz projections data.
I don't know why you are using shipment quarters here, and compare them with each other. I am not comparing shipment quarters, I am comparing the sold units of calendar year 2023 vs 2024 (since it's way easier for me, and it's sold not shipped, my posts and comments are always about that, SOLD and comparing calendar years or calendar holidays, not anything fiscal bull***t. ) For 2023 according to VGChartz (which is almost on point, so no need to say it's unofficial either way it's accurate enough) is 4.9M in US, and 4.4M in Europe, and 1.7M for both regions this calendar year. I am not debating over drops of each quarter. I am simply comparing the calendar years, and sold numbers given by VGChartz. Also as I already told, the drop won't be 50% it will be smaller, so it fits your 40% estimate. So I don't see point here in continuing this.
Both regions are 1.7M SOLD to date for this calendar year. They will do another million for both months and the November + December worldwide will be around 3.7M finishing 148M total SOLD. (I expect around a million for the rest of the world region too, as well as some 600-700k for JAPAN in those two months). This is my projection, which isn't pessimistic, but realistic one. given the performance in Europe and US. Also there's no way it's down all year in both of these regions around 30 to 40% and now of a sudden it's flat. Again, the lower sales fall (weekly/monthly/yearly) the smaller boost will the system receive in the holidays. For the calendar year dropping to 3.7M as what I said, from 5.2M the year before that, it's not pessimistic and it's not such a drop, I am not sure if there is 40% even. And this will be primary because of Japan having no holiday, and EU and US dropping in compare to the last calendar year.
yeah, ik you're talking abt sold, but those figures are unofficial. It's a waste of time to be talking abt estimates when we have official figures. (Also, how do you know they are "on point" when we have no official figures to compare them to? Besides having a lot of faith in VGChartz, I see no reason to view these figure as being viewed as credible as official numbers.) I like you a lot, XtremeBG, but if you aren't interested in discussion with respect to official data (as opposed to estimates which you hold a high amount of faith in), I'm not interested in furthering this conversation. I hope you will understand.
p.s. XBSX is reported to have shipped 28.1mil units as of June 31, 2024 by Aldora Intelligence, which is a source known for being spot on with their reportings (they have worked in collaboration with Value in the past...def not some "nobody" source). However, VGChartz had XBSX having sold >29mil as of June 31, 2024...this is a rather extreme difference. VGChartz is good for ballpark estimates, but is nowhere near the same level of accuracy as official numbers.
I am ready to work with official data, I even prefer it. But not the one that is 3 months shipped units. I want sold. There are difference between sold and shipped and this is an extra layer added when calculating and projecting sales, which makes it harder. I like the things to be as simple as possible. Just like the sold numbers every month we get from here. Also yes of course they may be slight inaccuracies. That's why we get adjustments sometimes. However almost all times those inaccuracies were pretty small, and the differences were minimal. Because of that it is not a problem at all to use those up to date every month sold figures instead of calculating every time periods of 3 months, alongside the difference between shipped and sold and to just make it harder. I am doing all my threads here with pure sold numbers by VGChartz. If there is someone who knows exactly what sold what after Trunks of course and maybe some of the admins if they work with the sales data, it's me right after them simply because I am working with the same data they work all the time. And I update the adjustments every time, and there are barely any difference from the official ones, when official data comes in. And because of that, that I am working pretty much all the time with exactly that data. it's way easier for me to shoot directly with that (I even don't need to check most of the times, since I know them from the top of my head), instead of going every time and check the shipped units report, make calculations based on the 3 months period (instead of 1) and look the previous year or quarter of shipments too and after all this make the estimate/prediction for the discussion.
About the XBSX thing, I can't say nothing. About sources, sites for sales and so on, Trunks or some of the admins here, have more knowledge than me about that, and if they know it's legit and can be trusted then they can adjust the numbers. But since we don't get official ones from Microsoft (which is the best of all variants and of course I want it) I trust VGChartz. I am visiting the site since 2009/2010 (despite my registration being from 2011) and I have watched a lot of articles and data got adjusted or change and the percentage of times this even happens, to have the idea of how much exactly VGChartz is off. And in the recent years, the difference is really little to none, way far from enough to prefer shipped quarters than most up to date monthly sales estimates done here. Of course there may be some rare instances like the XB1 had to adjust from 51 to 58M but those are exactly because we don't have official data, and are very very rare. Almost all times the site is just on point, or off by a very tiny difference, far away from a point where it can't be trusted or where it won't be accurate if we take those numbers instead of shipped quarters.
No. The lowest is 155 million. 9 million FY 2023/24- 150,3 million,
4 million FY 2025/26= 154,3 million,
1 million in FY 2026/27= 155,3 million. But thats still at least higher than the DS and more than 10 years of production. Why 157 million minimum?
155m sounds about right for the final tally if there are no price drops. Switch has been weak in the entire western market for over a year now. Those markets are going to drop to barely anything the day the successor launches. Only real question is does Japan keep buying the Switch despite a new system being out, and do parents of young kids pick up the Lite as a budget console, and how much does that happen.
Switch will probably only be at ~151.5m when successor launches, and with no price cuts there's going to be zero point in buying the OLED and very little point in buying the original, maybe just some budget shoppers who are just getting around to the Switch and that extra presumably $100 diff between Switch and next gen is too much. Lite should still sell some but it's not going to be a lot without a price cut putting it truly in budget shopping territory. It'll be 153m absolute minimum, but will almost certainly hit 154m, and I could see creeping over 155m by like 2027. 156m feels like a stretch.
Pokemon Legends isn't going to sell systems as the sixth pokemon game on the system. Also wouldn't be surprised to see that released on the successor as well. MP4 isn't gonna sell systems, and wouldn't be surprised to see that on the successor as well. And those will likely be the last two big games on the Switch. There's no more system sellers coming out on Switch, only with Pokemon Legends only one game that is gonna sell lots of millions, and that very well maybe be on both systems.
Nintendo could have pushed it up to 160m territory with hardware and software price cuts, and big holiday deals last year and this year, or even a 'Home' model, but they just chose not to.
You are aware that i talked about 155 million being the absolute minimum the Switch will be at the end of its life?
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