20 years of Nintendo console sales

Since its launch in 2017, the Nintendo Switch has become a home game console for gamers and non-gamers alike.

Few consoles penetrate the mainstream deep enough for parents to refer to a console by its proper name, rather than their children’s “Gameboy” or “Wii.” Even fewer come together as a complete package that ties together the ideologies and technical ideas of their previous consoles like the Nintendo Switch has.

This chart shows the Nintendo Switch sales success story along with over 20 years of Nintendo console sales.

The history of Nintendo console sales

Nintendo has a long history in gaming, but since the launch of the original Game Boy in 1989, the company has favored a two-pronged approach with its game consoles: having a handheld console and a home console that connects to a TV on the phone. market.

Game Boy and SNES (1990) were the first iteration of this strategy, reaching more than 160 million Units sold combined as legendary game franchises with revered sequels such as The world of Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past.

Game Boy variants such as the Game Boy Pocket (1996) and Game Boy Color (1998) lengthened the life of the handheld enough to accompany another home console, with the Nintendo 64 coming out in 1996 and being sold. 32.93 million own units.

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

Nintendo console sales for life

Console	Release year	Sold units (as of September 30, 2020)
NES	1983	61.91 M
Game boy	1989	118.69 M
SNES	1990	49.1 M
Nintendo 64	nineteen ninety six	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) posted slightly lower sales figures, but competed against Microsoft’s game debut with the original Xbox (2001) and the incredibly popular Playstation 2 (2000). from Sony.

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

The best-selling Wii and Nintendo DS

While Sony and Microsoft pushed for HD rendering and higher graphical fidelity on their next generation of consoles, Nintendo focused on how games were played rather than raw power.

This sparked the Nintendo DS (2004), which added a second touch screen for developers to build games, and the Nintendo Wii (2006), which pioneered motion controls and accessibility with the simpler Wii remote.

Both the Nintendo DS and the Nintendo Wii were resounding successes, dominating their generation with more than 255 million combo consoles sold.

At the same time, Sony had tried to replicate Nintendo’s strategy with its own handheld consoles, the PSP (2004) and PS Vita (2011), and while selling 80 million units and ~ 10-15 million units respectively, Sony eventually exited the market for handheld consoles.

Falling sales of Nintendo 3DS and Wii U

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

What did not hold up well was the continuation of Nintendo’s home console to the Wii, the Wii U. The console only reached 13.56 million sales for life, and was quickly overshadowed by the Playstation 4 (113.5 million units sold) and Xbox One (~ 51 million units sold) launches in 2013.

Weak Wii U sales sparked one of Nintendo’s worst periods in recent history, with two unprofitable years for the company in 2012 and 2014. While developers previously flocked to create games for Wii motion controls , the Wii U tablet controller does not attract the same kind of innovative software development.

Nintendo’s net income since 2000

Year	Net income (USD)
2000	$ 490 M
2001	$ 734 M
2002	$ 896 M
2003	$ 627 M
2004	$ 324 M
2005	$ 742 M
2006	$ 827 M
2007	$ 1,561 M
2008	$ 2,838 M
2009	$ 3,003 M
2010	$ 2,819 M
2011	$ 1,010 M
2012	– $ 498 M
2013	$ 67 M
2014	– $ 194 M
2015	$ 348 M
2016	$ 141 M
2017	$ 910 M
2018	$ 1,273 M
2019	$ 1,787 M
2020	$ 2,500 M

Source: Nintendo

How Nintendo Switch Unified Nintendo Strategies

Since the poor performance of the Wii U left Nintendo in a difficult situation, the next launch of the console was crucial for the success of the company.

The Nintendo Switch arrived just in time in 2017 when Wii U sales sold out, and the new hybrid home and handheld console was an instant hit. By the end of fiscal year 2018, the Switch had already outsold Wii U with 17 million sold units.

While the Nintendo Switch sales success story was largely due to how it unified home and handheld gaming, the console brought many of Nintendo’s strategies and technical decisions to fruition throughout the generations.

Many of the Wii Remote’s abilities are still present in the Switch’s Joy-Cons, with built-in accelerometers and gyros for motion controls, along with the ability to rotate them sideways for a more classic control setup. The Nintendo DS touchscreen permeated many Nintendo consoles and is still present on the Switch, and looking back at the Wii U tablet controller, it now seems like an early prototype for the Switch’s free-form portability.

Combining physical and digital play

Nintendo’s foray into physical toys, which began with Amiibo figures, is also gradually developing and merging physical and digital play thanks to the Switch.

In 2018, the company launched Nintendo Lab, a custom cardboard building kit that integrates with the Switch and its Joy-Cons for a variety of games and experiences. The 2020 release of Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit pushed this further, with players able to build a Mario Kart circuit at their home to compete in physical karts controlled by the Switch.

The company continues to expand to other realms 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 collecting and other prizes. tracked on mobile phones, gamifying the experience for visitors.

Expanding Nintendo’s audience to more than just gamers

The success of the Nintendo Switch has brought more experimentation and new ideas from the company, and the COVID-19 pandemic made it an essential product of 2020. With many families at home due to blockages, being able to slide the console out of its dock. And turning off the TV to play in handheld mode has changed the rules of the game.

While Nintendo’s development team can prepare for its next console with a bit more headroom thanks to the Switch’s excellent sales, the company has been working hard to expand its audience. 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 library of Nintendo Switch games continues to expand, fans new and old will be excited to see what consoles, games and other products come next from the legendary gaming company.