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Since its 2017 release, the Nintendo Switch has become a home gaming console for gamers and non-gamers alike.

Few consoles penetrate deep enough into the mainstream to get parents to refer to a console with its real name, instead of ‘Gameboy’ or ‘Wii’ of their children. Even less comes together as a complete package that combines the ideologies and technical ideas of their previous consoles, such as the Nintendo Switch.

This image visualizes the Nintendo Switch success story along with more than 20 years of Nintendo sales.

The History of Nintendo Console Sales

Nintendo has a long history in the game – but since the release of the original Game Boy in 1989, the company has taken a dual approach with its game console: both a portable handheld console and a home console that connects to a TV on the market.

The Game Boy and the SNES (1990) were the first iteration of this strategy, and they achieved more than 160 million units sold together while legendary game franchises with revered sequels such as Super Mario World and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

The Game Boy’s variants such as the Game Boy Pocket (1996) and Game Boy Color (1998) extended the handheld’s lifespan to accompany another home console, with the Nintendo 64 coming out in 1996 and selling 32.93 million units of its own.

These successes proved that the gaming audience would support two separate Nintendo consoles on the market, and Nintendo kept the strategy going for future generations.

Lifelong Nintendo Console Sales

Console	Release year	Apartments for sale (from 30 September 2020)
NEST	1983	61.91 M
Game Boy	1989	118.69 M
SNES	1990	49.1 M
Nintendo 64	1996	32.93 M
Game Boy Advance	2001	81.51 M
Nintendo GameCube	2001	21.74 M
Nintendo DS	2004	154.02 M
Nintendo Wii	2006	101.63 M
Nintendo 3DS	2011	75.94 M
Wii U	2012	13.56 M
Nintendo Switch	2017	68.3 M

Source: Nintendo

The next generation, consisting of the Game Boy Advance (2001) and Nintendo GameCube (2001), had slightly lower sales figures, but competed against Microsoft’s pin debut with the original Xbox (2001) and Sony’s incredibly popular Playstation 2 ( 2000).

While the GameCube sells 21.7 million total units and the original Xbox sold ~ 24 million the total units, the Playstation 2 dominated this generation and is still the best-selling video game console of all time 155 million units sold.

The sales success of the Wii and Nintendo DS

While Sony and Microsoft have boosted HD version and higher graphics fidelity in their next-generation consoles, Nintendo has focused on how games are played rather than raw power.

This resulted in the Nintendo DS (2004), which added a second touchscreen for developers to build games, and the Nintendo Wii (2006), which pioneered motion control and accessibility with the simpler Wii remote.

Both the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii were runaway successes, bringing their generation with more than 255 million combined consoles sold.

At the same time, Sony tried to replicate Nintendo’s strategy with their own consoles, the PSP (2004) and PS Vita (2011), and while selling 80 million units and ~ 10-15 million respectively, Sony has finally abandoned the handheld console market.

The selling price of the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

Nintendo was clearly the king of the handheld console market. While it was feared that mobile phones were a portable console killer, the Nintendo 3DS sold well when it was released in 2011 (75.94 million units) and was Nintendo’s saving grace for its generation.

What did not hold up well was the sequel from Nintendo’s home console to the Wii, the Wii U. The console just reached 13.56 million lifelong sales, and was quickly overshadowed by the Playstation 4 (113.5 million units sold) and Xbox One (~ 51 million units sold) will be released in 2013.

The poor sales of the Wii U brought one of Nintendo’s worst eras in recent history, with two unprofitable years for the company in 2012 and 2014. While developers previously streamed to create games for the Wii’s motion control, the Wii Your tablet manager does not attract the same kind of innovative software development.

Nintendo’s Net Revenue Since 2000

Year	Net income (USD)
2000	$ 490 million
2001	$ 734 million
2002	$ 896 million
2003	$ 627 million
2004	$ 324 million
2005	$ 742 million
2006	$ 827 million
2007	$ 1,561 million
2008	$ 2.838 million
2009	$ 3,003 million
2010	$ 2.819 million
2011	$ 1,010 million
2012	– $ 498 million
2013	$ 67 million
2014	– $ 194 million
2015	$ 348 million
2016	$ 141 million
2017	$ 910 million
2018	$ 1,273 million
2019	$ 1,787 million
2020	$ 2,500 million

Source: Nintendo

How the Nintendo Switch Unified Nintendo’s Strategies

With the poor performance of Wii U leaving Nintendo in a difficult position, the next console release was crucial to the company’s success.

The Nintendo Switch arrived just in time in 2017 when the Wii U’s sales dried up, and the new hybrid home and portable console was an immediate success. At the end of the 2018 financial year, the Switch has already sold out the Wii U 17 million units sold.

While the Nintendo Switch success story was largely due to the unification of home and hand gaming, the console has accomplished many of Nintendo’s strategies and technical decisions through the generations.

Many of the capabilities of the Wii Remote are still in the Joy’s cons of the Switch, with built-in accelerometers and gyroscopes for motion control, and the ability to turn it sideways for a more classic control configuration. The Nintendo DS’s touchscreen has permeated many Nintendo consoles and is still present in the Switch, and if we look back at the Wii U’s tablet controller, it now looks like an early prototype for the Switch’s portability in free form.

Physical and digital game combine

Nintendo’s attack on physical toys, which began with Amiibo figures, is also evolving and gradually adding physical and digital gameplay thanks to the Switch.

In 2018, the company released Nintendo Labs, a custom cardboard building that integrates with the Switch and its Joy-Cons for a variety of games and experiences. The 2020 release of Mario Kart Live: Home pushed it further, with players able to build a Mario Kart track in their home to manage physical maps controlled by the Switch.

The company continues to expand into other kingdoms with the opening of the Super Nintendo World theme park at Universal Studios in Osaka, Japan on February 4, 2021. The theme park will also combine the digital and physical world with virtual coin collection and other prizes that on cell phones, which compares the experience for visitors.

Expanding Nintendo’s audience to more than just gamers

The success of the Nintendo Switch brought more experimentation and fresh ideas from the company, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it an essential 2020 product. With many families at home due to lockouts, they were able to get the console out of its The dock and outside the TV to play in hand mode is a game changer.

While Nintendo’s development team can prepare for their next console with a little more financial breathing space thanks to the excellent sales of the Switch, the company has worked hard to expand its audience. The physical toys for younger audiences help capture a new generation of Nintendo fans, while older generations of fans will be excited to visit Super Nintendo World and indulge in nostalgia as they introduce Nintendo to their children.

As the excellent game library of Nintendo Switch continues to expand, new and old fans will be excited to see what consoles, games and other products from the legendary game company come next.