Nintendo’s Q2 FY 2020/21 Numbers

 

 

As a publicly-traded company whose main business operation is videogames, Nintendo releases software and hardware sales regularly. Here is the website of the latest financial statement of the second quarter of the 2020 fiscal year. 

1st Quarter 2020
Switch Hardware: 5.68 million
Switch Software: 50.43 million 

2nd Quarter 2020
Switch Hardware: 6.85 million
Switch Software: 49.82 million 

Lifetime to Date (LTD)
Switch Hardware: 68.3 million
Switch Software: 456.49 million 

Considering that this is the 3.5 year of the Nintendo Switch, 68,300,000 units sold is an incredibly impressive number. The Switch is selling faster than all Nintendo Hardware in its history except for three pieces of hardware, the Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo Wii, and the Nintendo DS. The first two had its sales fall off a cliff in the fourth year, so a strong fourth year for the Nintendo Switch bodes very well compared to other Nintendo consoles. Let’s look at the lifetime sales of other Nintendo hardware to see where the Nintendo Switch compares. 

Nintendo DS: 154,020,000 LTD
Nintendo Game Boy: 118,690,000 LTD
Nintendo Wii: 100,630,000 LTD
Nintendo Game Boy Advance: 81,510,000 LTD
Nintendo 3DS: 75,870,000 LTD
Nintendo Switch: 68,300,000 LTD
Nintendo Entertainment System: 61,910,000 LTD
Super Nintendo Entertainment System: 49,100,000 LTD
Nintendo 64: 32,930,000 LTD
Nintendo GameCube: 21,750,000 LTD
Wii U: 13,560,000 LTD 

When we look at Nintendo Switch right now compared to previous consoles, it already surpassed classic and highly loved consoles such as the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, and GameCube. Nintendo consoles are sales monsters in Q3, which is October 1 to December 31. Last year, the Nintendo Switch sold 10.81 million units in Q3 2019, and this year the Nintendo Switch is much stronger than in 2019. Assuming the worst-case scenario and it sells as much as last year, the Nintendo Switch ends 2020 just under 80 million units. The Nintendo Switch ends 2020 outselling the 3DS in half the time and gets within spitting distance of the Game Boy Advance. Of course, since it is a much stronger year, Nintendo will likely end 2020 outselling both the Nintendo 3DS and the Game Boy Advance. 

What about 2021? 

Animal Crossing

That is a popular question because by then, the next Sony and Microsoft console entrenches itself. The PS4 and Xbox One didn’t have much of an effect on the Switch, so I will be honest and say that the Nintendo Switch only lives, and dies based on Nintendo’s marketing and support. Past Nintendo consoles died quickly in years 4 and 5 because, in the past, Nintendo split its resources into two consoles, and they also drew down their game development once they start working on the console’s successor. If Nintendo says what they have been asserting, which is that the Nintendo Switch will have a much longer lifecycle than the typical console (Nintendo Life, 2020). It also means that the console won’t have the same issues as previous Nintendo consoles, which is waning software support later in its lifecycle. The Nintendo Switch will most likely end as one of the strongest selling Nintendo hardware ever. 

Software

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 28.99 million LTD
Animal Crossing: New Horizons: 26.94 million LTD
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate: 21.1 million LTD
Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild: 19.74 million LTD
Pokémon Sword/Shield: 19.02 million LTD
Super Mario Odyssey: 18.99 million LTD
Super Mario Party: 12.1 million LTD
Splatoon 2: 11.27 million LTD
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe: 8.32 million LTD
Luigi’s Mansion 3: 7.83 million LTD
Ring Fit Adventure 5.84 million LTD
Super Mario Maker 2: 6.14 million LTD
Super Mario 3D All-Stars: 5.21 million LTD
Legend of Zelda: Links Awakening: 4.38 million LTD
Fire Emblem: Three Houses: 3.12 million LTD
ARMS: 2.52 million LTD
Xenoblade Chronicles 2: 2.11 million LTD
51 Worldwide Games: 1.81 million LTD
Octopath Traveler (outside of Japan): 1.72 million LTD
Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition: 1.4 million LTD
Astral Chain: 1.2 million LTD
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3: 1.18 million LTD 

Mythra from Xenoblade 2

When we look at the lifetime to date sales of software, there are some big standouts. The first one and the headline is how much of a monster Animal Crossing is; it sold 26.94 million copies, and the game isn’t even a year old. It has the record of being the highest selling videogame (with no attachment/bundle) in Japan, and one of the fastest-selling Nintendo games ever. Another fascinating thing is that Nintendo games have long sales legs, Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, Splatoon 2, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokémon Sword/Shield, and Super Mario Party keep selling. Another fascinating thing is that Xenoblade 2 passed the 2 million mark, becoming the first Monolithsoft game to break that mark. Xenoblade 2 has very long legs for a Japanese RPG, which typically sells 80% of its lifetime units in the first month. Another fascinating point of interest is that Xenoblade 2 is such a huge seller that it lifted and expanded the sales of the Xenoblade Chronicles remake. A future Xenoblade game is going to be a gigantic sales monster for a Japanese RPG, hitting numbers that few games of that genre hit. 

References 

Nintendo Life. (2020). Switch Will Have A Longer Life Cycle Than Previous Consoles, Says Nintendo President. https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2020/02/switch_will_have_a_longer_life_cycle_than_previous_consoles_says_nintendo_president 

Nintendo (2020). Consolidated Financial Highlights. https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2020/201105e.pdf