Nintendo Switch just hit its most impressive milestone yet
At this point, you probably don't need me to tell you that the Switch is selling well. Though there may have been some apprehension from gamers when Nintendo first revealed that it was working on a new console – then codenamed the Nintendo NX – that was quickly washed away when we saw what it could actually do. Ever since launch, gamers have been buying up Switches left and right, leading it to become a bigger success than Nintendo anticipated.
In fact, Nintendo has revised its sales forecast a couple of times over the past 10 months. After first, Nintendo raised its sales goals for its fiscal year ending March 31, 2018 to 10 million units. When it became clear that the Switch was going to hit that figure months before the fiscal year ends, Nintendo bumped it up again to 14 million.
Today Nintendo is celebrating hitting a different sales goal, but one that's arguably more impressive than any achievement announced thus far. Nintendo announced today that the Switch has become the fastest-selling console in US history, moving 4.8 million units in its first 10 months of availability.
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The previous title holder was the original Wii, which managed to sell 4 million units in the same 10 month time frame. Nintendo says that 60% of Switch owners in the States own a copy of Super Mario Odyssey, while 55% of them own The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It seems, then, that both titles have acted as system sellers, and that Nintendo's strategy of pushing major franchise releases out the door in the Switch's first year is working out well.
That the Switch is selling faster than the Wii should be an exciting thing for Nintendo. The Wii is far and away Nintendo's best-selling home console ever, so Nintendo might just be able to make lightning strike twice with the Switch. There's a long road between now and the 100 million units the Wii ultimately sold, of course, but the Switch is nevertheless off to a strong start.