- The Nintendo Switch console has sold 103.54 copies by the end of 2021
- The year has been very strong for both hardware and software sales
- Nintendo is yet to announce what its future plans are and how it plans to compete with the Steam Deck
Nintendo has had a remarkable 2021, surpassing 100 million sales with its Nintendo Switch console and selling millions of games.
Nintendo Switch Has Sold 103.52M Copies
Nintendo Switch continues to reign supreme on the handheld console market. Nintendo’s portable device had sold a total of 103.54 million copies by the end of 2021, cementing it as one of the best-selling consoles ever.
The number was acquired from Nintendo’s recent official sales report which highlighted the company’s performance throughout 2021. The Switch Lite model was responsible for 17.87 million of the total sales and the new Nintendo Switch OLED for an additional 3.99 million.
The report emphasized that Black Friday has dramatically affected the purchases in the last quarter of the year, increasing sales to their second-highest level ever. Despite shortages due to production delays, interest rates in the console remained steady.
The Nintendo games also saw an increase in sales, with 2021 being the strongest year for Nintendo software. The newly-released Pokemon Brilliant Diamond and Pokemon Shining Pearl led the way with 11.7 million sales for the April-December period. The remakes were followed by Mario Kart 8 with 7.7 million copies sold and Animal Crossing with 5 million copies sold.
Switch to Soon Surpass Some of Its Competitors
The Nintendo Switch is yet to outsell Nintendo’s magnum opus, the Nintendo DS. The latter leads the sales race by a 50 million margin. However, this isn’t to say that the Nintendo Switch isn’t successful. On the contrary, the new handheld leader has already surpassed PlayStation 1 (102 million sales) and PlayStation 3 (84 million sales) and is on the way to surpassing PlayStation 4 (117 million sales) and Gameboy and Gameboy Color (119 million sales).
A few months ago, Nintendo had announced its plans to release a new version of the console called the Nintendo Switch Pro. It was planned to bring a 4K image quality to a handheld device. Sadly, Nintendo gave up on its plans for the Switch Pro and instead introduced the OLED version which increased the display quality.
Nintendo is yet to announce its future plans. It’s unknown whether Nintendo will work on another Nintendo Switch family console or if it will begin developing an entirely new console. Some fans still hope to one day see the Switch Pro become a reality but it is uncertain whether the company will unfreeze the project.
Nintendo Switch will soon meet its first serious competition in a while as the Steam Deck is about to launch on February 25. Some people are skeptical of this new competitor but others are excited to see how it will affect portable gaming.
