The Switch is beginning to pay off for Nintendo. The new console is selling so well that the Japanese firm said today it is likely to outsell the Wii U, its predecessor, within one year of its release.
Today Nintendo raised its prediction for total Switch sales over its financial year — which runs April-March — to 14 million units from an initial 10 million. If it can hit that number then the Switch will already have bested the Wii U, the flop console that heralded Nintendo’s first step into hybrid gaming, which sold just over 13.5 million units across its entire lifecycle.
The signs are already promising. Sales of Switch consoles and games, combined with Nintendo’s lucrative smartphone games, helped the firm post a 23.8 billion yen ($209 million) operating profit on total revenue of 220 trillion yen ($1.93 billion) for its fiscal Q2. Overall, 2.93 million units were shipped during the quarter which takes the Switch to 7.63 million to date.
If Nintendo is to hit that 14 million target then sales will need to accelerate. Key to that may be overcoming whatever issue it is that is constraining supply on Nintendo’s side.