The Nintendo Switch has officially become the best-selling Nintendo console of all time, beating the Wii. In its latest report, Nintendo said as of December 31, 2021, there had been 103.54 million Switch units sold since its launch four years ago.
Meanwhile, the now discontinued Nintendo Wii sold 101.63 million units during its lifetime. Nintendo Switch also became the console that achieved sales of 100 million units the fastest compared to other consoles, including those made by competitors Sony and Microsoft.
Even though it's quite old school, Nintendo still seems confident about the Switch's sales performance. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the momentum for the Switch to enter 2022 is quite good.
"The Switch is just in the middle of its lifecycle and the momentum going into this year is quite good. The Switch is poised to break the pattern of our previous consoles which saw its momentum weaken in its sixth year on the market and will grow further," said Furukawa, as quoted by Polygon, Friday. (4/2/2022).
However, Nintendo lowered its forecast for Switch sales this fiscal year due to the impact of the ongoing global chip crisis and supply chain issues. The Japanese tech company estimates they will sell 23 million Switch units, down from the previously projected 24 million units.
Nintendo first launched the Switch in March 2017 and will celebrate its fifth anniversary next month. So far, Nintendo has released several Switch models, such as the Switch Lite, which is cheaper, and the Switch OLED Model, which has a nicer screen.
When compared to handheld gaming devices from Nintendo, Switch sales are still far behind. Based on Nintendo's publicly available sales data, the Nintendo DS is still the best-selling device with 154 million units sold. The Game Boy line, including the Game Boy, also sold more than 118 million units.
Nintendo itself has prepared many interesting games for 2022. Late last month they released Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and there are still Kirby and the Forgotten Land, Splatoon 3, Bayonetta 3, and the sequel The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild which will be released. This year.