Switch continues to dominate US sales, almost matching Wii’s October record

Nintendo Switch continued to dominate hardware sales in the US last month, achieving its best October on record.

According to NPD data published by Nintendo of America, a combined total of 735,926 Switch and Switch Lite consoles were sold, up 136% compared to October 2019.

The figures represent the second-highest October sales for any game console, Nintendo said. Only the Wii has bettered Switch’s October performance, with 807,000 sales during the same month in 2008.

“Seeing encouraging sales growth like this in the fourth October of Nintendo Switch proves to us that the system has many more years and great games yet to come,” said Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser in a statement.

Nintendo’s latest console has enjoyed strong sales in the US throughout 2020 – it has actually been the best-selling video game console for 23 consecutive months.

Between January and April 2020, Switch broke the all-time record for dollar sales. And the following month, Switch unit sales were the highest for an individual platform in a May month since the Nintendo DS in 2009.

In its March report, market research firm the NPD Group said Switch set a new all-time record for hardware unit sales in a March month, and recorded the strongest first quarter unit sales of any platform since the DS in 2010.

Switch has now sold over 22.5 million units in the US, according to the NPD Group, representing about a third of the console’s lifetime sales.

Earlier this month Nintendo increased its global Switch hardware sales forecast for the year, on the back of its latest strong results.

The firm’s hardware and software sales continued to see huge year-on-year growth during the six-month period ended September 30, with combined Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite hardware sales reaching 12.53 million units (an 80% increase year-on-year) for life-to-date sales of 68.30 million units.

Nintendo could take advantage of PS5 and Xbox Series stock shortages and become Christmas 2020’s best-selling console in America, according to a recent note published by NPD Group’s Mat Piscatella.

Further reading

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Switch will be Christmas 2020’s best-selling console, analyst projects

Nintendo expected to benefit from PS5 and Xbox Series console shortages, according to NPD

“PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series consoles should be among the hottest holiday gifting items of 2020. Units will be tough to find with continued strong demand into 2021,” the analyst wrote.

“Switch will also be a hot holiday gifting item with more households picking up multiple Switch consoles in the fourth quarter. The lack of available inventory of new PlayStations and Xbox systems will leave Switch as an appealing available option (although supply may still be difficult to find).”

Nintendo of America’s headline Black Friday offer is a Switch console with a download code for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and a three-month Nintendo Switch Online subscription for $299.99.