Switch Will Outsell Wii U In Just One Year, Nintendo Says

As part of its latest earnings report, Nintendo shared new sales figures and updated its sales forecast. If all goes as Nintendo expects, Switch will have sell more during the current fiscal year than Wii U has sold total since its launch in 2012.

Nintendo announced today, through the end of September, it has sold 7.63 million Switch units worldwide. Back in July, Nintendo said it expected to sell a total of 10 million during the current fiscal year, which runs from April 1, 2017 through March 31, 2018. As a part of its earnings report, Nintendo updated its projections, saying it now expects to sell 14 million Switches during this fiscal year (not counting those sold back in March, during the previous year).

Wii U has sold 13.56 million units since its release in November 2012. If Nintendo's Switch sales projection proves to be accurate, that means the system will have outsold five years of Wii U in just a single year. While not an especially high bar--Wii U was a sales failure compared with prior Nintendo platforms--it is still striking to see happen.

During its launch month, Switch sold 2.74 million units worldwide. If it does indeed sell 14 million units by the end of March, that will bring its total to 16.74 million at that point. That brings it close to the lifetime sales of GameCube (21.74 million) but still far behind that of the ultra-successful Wii (101.63 million).

From July through September, Switch sold 1.97 million units, while 3DS sold 950,000. Supply issues remain the major impediment for Switch, although Nintendo has reportedly increased Switch production as we head into the holiday season.

According to Reuters, Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima confirmed the company is now making more systems at the earnings briefing, saying, "We've boosted Switch production to meet strong demand as it was difficult for customers to buy the consoles at retail stores."