Nintendo Switch seemed to have some bad news going in last week, but it seems it’s actually about to reach a historical milestone.
As reported last week in even mainstream outlets like CNBC, Nintendo reported drops in net sales and net profit. Revenue dropped to 246.6 billion yen, compared to expectations of 289.61 billion yen. Meanwhile, profit dropped from 80.9 billion yen compared to expectations of 70.73 billion yen.
They also revealed that they had only sold 2.1 million units in the last quarter, a decline of 46 % year on year. While it was expected that the Switch would continue to see declines in sales as it is already in seventh year in the market, Nintendo was confident that their console sales would not be affected by their pending announcement for its successor console.
Perhaps that confidence was not so much that they were sure to sell more consoles, but that they were prepared for the declines to come, since they knew consumers would now be waiting for that announcement. But here is where the surprising bit of good news comes up.
As reported by Nintendo Life, Mat Piscatella of Circana shared this insight on Switch sales, seemingly at random, on Twitter:
“In the US, PS5 is still 7% ahead of PS4 LTD and Switch is only 1.1M units behind PlayStation 2 in lifetime sales.”
Now the first thing that may have come to your head is Jim Ryan talking about PlayStation 2 sales, so let’s clear that up now. Jim Ryan said that PlayStation 2 reached 160 million units sold worldwide, not just in the US.
Nintendo’s current tally is that the Switch has sold 143 million units, as of June 30, 2024. So it will be some time before the Switch will be in contention in taking the title of the worldwide best-selling console. But obviously, the best-selling console in the US is no mean feat. In fact, it’s definitely still on the road to take the title from the PlayStation 2.
Now, Nintendo doesn’t seem likely to reach their current sales goal of 13.5 million units for the Switch for the rest of the financial year. But even if they did, it wouldn’t be enough to reach the PlayStation 2’s worldwide sales crown. Nintendo would have to keep selling the Switch for a few years after its successor had already been announced and released.
In fact, that’s what the PlayStation 2 did to get there too. The PlayStation 2 was launched in 2000, and discontinued in 2013. That’s nearly twice as long as the Switch’s lifetime. And in fact, Sony finally ended production just a few months before they launched the PlayStation 4.
It will certainly make you wonder, will Nintendo really go to the trouble to beat Sony at these records? It may get them a spot in Guinness, but when Sony did it for the PlayStation 2, it somehow made business sense for them to keep doing so. Nintendo will end production on the Switch when it becomes clear that it’s no longer worth pursuing its business, regardless if it reaches these arbitrary records or not.
But maybe Nintendo really does have a good plan, to keep the Switch selling years after its successor has launched. If the two Nintendo consoles will sell account systems, they could pitch it as part of people’s Switch online family plans. With a steep price drop like Sony did for the PlayStation 2, they can keep those sales brisk for lower income gamers too. It’s certainly not out of the question, but ultimately it will be business, not hubris, that guides Nintendo’s decisions in this regard.
