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Nintendo announces sky-high March Switch sales and full-year forecast

Published Apr 27th, 2017 9:18AM EDT
Nintendo Switch Sales
Image: Serpell-Rand/REX/Shutterstock

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There was some concern that sales of Nintendo’s new video game console might be stunted by the sour taste left in gamers’ mouths from the Wii U. The post-launch frenzy seemed to dispel those concerns, and we can now confirm that sales of the new Nintendo Switch console are soaring. Along with the company’s earnings report for the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, Nintendo announced that Nintendo Switch sales in the month of March totaled an impressive 2.74 million units.

Despite continued supply shortages — paying a premium for the Switch on Amazon is still the only way to buy one online right now — Switch sales have indeed been impressive so far. What’s more, Nintendo has issued an even more impressive forecast for Switch sales in fiscal 2017.

On top of sky-high Nintendo Switch console sales in the month of march, Nintendo confirmed in its fiscal Q4 2016 earnings report that sales of Switch games reached 5.46 million copies. Incredibly, that includes 3.84 million copies of the Switch’s flagship launch title, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. That figure includes Wii U titles, but believe it or not, the Switch version of the game did in fact out-sell the Switch console itself — Nintendo says 2.76 million copies of the Switch version were shipped.

For fiscal 2017, Nintendo expects the strong demand for its new Nintendo Switch console to persist, and it expects to increase production so that supply will eventually catch up with demand. Nintendo says that it expects to sell an additional 10 million Switch consoles in fiscal 2017. If that figure is accurate, the company will have sold nearly 13 million Switch units by this time next year.

Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.