Nintendo Switch overtakes 3DS in world sales, half as many units as DS and PS2

Nintendo Switch overtakes 3DS in world sales, half as many units as DS and PS2.

Nintendo Switch has already advanced in global 3DS sales, according to estimates: it would have 76 million sold, surpassing the 75 of Nintendo 3DS.

Little by little, Nintendo Switch is leaving behind its predecessors in terms of the number of units sold. Based on the latest sales estimates from VGChartz, Nintendo Switch has sold 76,285,948 units worldwide until December 26, 2020. This figure already places it above Nintendo 3DS, which sold 75,906,986 units.

Although this figure is an estimate, Switch up, Switch down, it is already practically certain that it has surpassed 3DS, the previous Nintendo handheld launched in 2011 and retired in 2018, when the existence of the hybrid console made an exclusively portable console leave to make sense (at least, until the Switch Lite model was released …).

Nintendo released its latest official sales data in November 2020, and by then, Switch carried 68 million units sold, a figure that outperformed NES sales (61.91 million units sold during the 80s and 90s). Of that bulky figure, by the way, a million and a half sales correspond to Spain.

When Nintendo updates its sales data again, in early February, we will see the impact this Christmas has had on the sales of the Switch. This 2020 the console has had its best sales rate to date, fueled by confinement, the success of Animal Crossing, Mario Kart or Pokémon, the decline of the PS4 and Xbox One, and the shortage of PS5 and Xbox Series X.

All analysts agree: The Switch will once again be the best-selling console in 2021, spurred on by a higher rate of releases and the rumored “Switch Pro.”

Switch has sold half as many consoles as PS2, the best-selling console in history

Even so, it still has a long way to go to reach the highest positions in the top of the best-selling consoles in history. The next to advance will be Game Boy Advance, PSP, PS3 and Xbox 360, all selling between 80-90 million. Wii and PlayStation they are further away, hovering around 100 million sales, followed by PS4, with 118 million units.

And on top of everything Nintendo DS and PlayStation 2, with 154 and 158 million units respectively. A figure that seems unattainable … although not entirely crazy, if the console keeps pace: VGChartz also estimates that 23 million consoles were sold in 2020 alone … and according to Nintendo, the console would be at half its Lifecycle.

Source: VGChartz