20% Of Nintendo Switch Systems Were Sold To Homes That Already Had One In 2020

Nintendo sold more than 28 million Switch consoles during the past fiscal year, bringing the platform's lifetime sales up to 84.5 million. According to company president Shuntaro Furukawa, about a fifth of the systems that Nintendo moved last year were to homes that already owned one.

"In the previous fiscal year, household demand for multiple systems accounted for roughly 20% of unit sales of the Nintendo Switch family of systems," Furukawa said during the company's latest earnings call. This means that roughly six million of the systems that Nintendo sold during the last fiscal year were to households that already have a Switch.

Nintendo has long made it a goal to sell multiple Switch systems to families, and Furukawa anticipates this demand will only continue to grow in the future. "Going forward, we expect demand for multiple systems per household will increase even as hardware unit sales grow," Furukawa said.

As part of this initiative, Nintendo introduced a second Switch model, the Switch Lite, in 2019--a less expensive, portable-only system that lacks the ability to connect to a television. Rumors also continue to circulate that Nintendo plans to release an "upgraded" Switch model this year that will boast an OLED screen and support 4K, but Nintendo has denied these reports.

Whether or not a new model is indeed coming, Nintendo expects to sell another 25.5 million Switch systems during the current fiscal year ending March 2022. Should the company hit that target, then the Switch will officially overtake the Wii--the company's current best-selling home console--in lifetime sales. That system moved more than 101 million units before it was discontinued.

Furukawa has repeatedly said that the Switch has entered the midpoint of its life cycle, so the system still has a bit of life left in it. Nintendo has a variety of big titles in the pipeline for the console to continue its moment. Later this year, it plans to release a remaster of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword and remakes of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl, while Pokemon Legends: Arceus and Splatoon 3 are on the way in 2022.

The company has a few other heavy-hitters in the works as well, including Metroid Prime 4, Bayonetta 3, and a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. While the latter is still listed at TBA, Nintendo teased that more information about the game will be shared later this year.