Strategically located before the holiday rush, November made Nintendo’s business again. Once again, the Switch actually won the jackpot.
Last week, Nintendo’s portable console suddenly broke some of its own old content records. On the other side of the Atlantic, consumers prefer it as well, becauseThe Switch is again the best-selling console with 1.13 million copies sold.
The million, the million
Synonymous with consumer frenzy, Black Friday week – the last one in November – enabled Nintendo to sell 550,000 consoles, a nice score that makes the Switch the best-selling console in the United States, a position it has held for “35 of the past 36 months” according to “35 of the last 36 months” Businesswire. Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser was obviously pleased with these good results:
With the start of 2022 and the sixth year of the Switch’s existence, the console is still in high demand. We are pleased that more and more households want it!
And yet behind this apparent triumph hides a reality: due to a scarcity of raw materials that slows down the production of consoles (among other things), the American market is declining and shows a decline of 10% compared to November 2020. Despite the availability of three different models, the Switch is also showing a decline.
Comparison is not correct
And because a comparison, as strange as it is, lets us measure the phenomenon, Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad tries a personal approach:
More PS4, Xbox One and Wii U (yes, Wii U) were sold in November 2014 than Switch, PS5 and Xbox Series were sold in November 2021.
Despite this success, you have to wait for third place on the podium to find a game released on Switch and again it’s a diptych:
- Call of Duty Vanguard
- Battlefield 2042
- Sparkling Diamond Pokémon / Sparkling Pearl
This is, therefore, a success that should be put in a context that some believe will last until … 2023. For its part, Nintendo has revised its production targets down by 20%.
