Kimishima announced that the Nintendo Switch has sold 2.7 million units, thus exceeding the launch sales of the Wii U in the same time frame. Kimishima went on to say that they (Nintendo) aim for the Switch to sell as much as the Wii - over 100 million - and the company is encouraged by the strong sales thus far considering the system launched in March.
Continuing to discuss the potential sales of the Switch, Kimishima stated:
The company’s projection for 2017 is for the Switch to sell 10 million units, which is a lofty goal for a 9-month period. It’s worth noting that the PS4 managed to sell 10 million in its first 9 months on the market, and it is a record-shattering console.
One of the other questions brought up, mentioning that the Nintendo Switch has a lower attach rate than the Wii U had, to which Kimishima stated his belief that the reason for the disparity is because the Wii U launched during the holiday season, while the Switch launched in March.
Kimishima went on to discuss the recent announcement of the New Nintendo 2DS XL. He noted that the redesign is a reiteration of Nintendo’s dedication to the handheld market, as well as the company’s thinking in regards to product cycles:
This comment is rather ironic considering the company recently discontinued the NES Mini console which sold 2.3 million units and suffered greatly due to Nintendo’s failure to meet supply-and-demand. It is worth noting that Nintendo has a storied history with creating fake supply shortages to ramp-up excitement for a product.
The Nintendo Switch has been a huge rebound for Nintendo, following the huge failure of the Wii U. A major driving force behind the success of the Switch was undoubtedly the masterful Legend of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, and the system is currently enjoying the success of the Super Mario Kart 8 re-release. So long as the company continues to release major first-party akin to these, particularly with Super Mario Odyssey in the holiday season, the Switch should have a very successful first year on the market.
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