One Switch Per Household? No, Nintendo Wants "Every Single Person" To Buy One

Nintendo has announced plans for a new Switch marketing strategy focused around showing that "every single person" should buy the system instead of having one per household.

In a recent Q&A with investors, Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto talked about the company's plans to help the Switch reach a wider base. "The marketing strategy going forward is to instill a desire to purchase Nintendo Switch among a wide consumer base in all regions of Japan, the US, and Europe," he said. On a longer timeline, Miyamoto explained that Nintendo's "ultimate ambition" is for a Nintendo Switch "to be owned not just by every family, but by every single person."

What makes the Switch so appealing, Miyamoto said, is its hybrid nature. The more Switch consoles there are in the market--instead of just one per household--the more types of new genres and play patterns that could theoretically exist, Miyamoto said. He went on to say that if Nintendo is successful, people might elect to play Switch games on the go instead of smartphone games.

"If consumers come to take it for granted that everybody has a Nintendo Switch, then we can create new and very Nintendo genres of play, and Nintendo Switch can have a life apart from smart devices and other video game systems," Miyamoto explained.

Nintendo managing executive director Shinya Takahashi added, "The question going forward is how to convey the allure of Nintendo Switch to a wider range of age groups, regardless of gender." Takahashi added that Nintendo Labo--a wacky, wonderful, and weird project involving actual cardboard--is one part of Nintendo's plan to address the "issue" of broadening the Switch's playerbase.

The Switch is already off to a hot start, selling 14.86 million systems by Nintendo's latest count. In fact, the Switch needed just 10 months to outsell the lifetime sales tally of its predecessor, the Wii U, which sold around 13.5 million units.

For more from Nintendo's earnings Q&A, check out this story about the Switch's online membership: "Nintendo Teases The "Appealing" Benefits Of Switch's Online Membership"