Report: Nintendo Switch passes 1.5M consoles sold

Nintendo Switch sales worldwide have reached 1.5 million consoles sold, according to a report from SuperData. As first reported by GamesIndustry.biz, that figure comprises international sales recorded mostly during the console’s first week on the market.

SuperData’s information comes from Famitsu, the premier Japanese gaming publication, and German-based global market research institute GfK. The specific breakdown has sales reaching 500,000 in the United States, based on SuperData’s own estimate. In Japan, Nintendo has sold 360,00 Switch consoles; that number is from Famitsu, the firm told Polygon. Outside of those two regions, the data gets less specific.

European sales are said to closely trail those in Japan, according to a mix of SuperData’s research and GfK data. All of these sales figures come from the console’s launch week at retail, making them a few days old — but overall, they corroborate with what Nintendo has hinted about the Switch’s sales thus far. (We’ve reached out to the company for confirmation.)

Following the Switch’s first weekend on sale, the New York Times reported that the Switch had surpassed the Wii’s sales over a similar period. Nintendo later confirmed that the Switch was thus far its fastest-selling console in the Americas, without giving any specific numbers. Famitsu reported that the Nintendo Switch had moved 331,000 systems by the end of its third day at retail, which further checks out with SuperData’s research, especially when considering the Switch’s scarcity post-launch.

For context, the Wii sold 600,000 units over a six-day period in the Americas back in November 2006; SuperData’s numbers only cover the United States, meaning it’s likely that the Switch has at least reached that same number by the end of its first seven days in stores.

The Wii went on to be Nintendo’s best-selling console of all time, but it’s too early to point to the Switch’s sales as indicative of similar impending success.

“[The data] indicates that the Switch is off to a great start, but leaves unanswered the question whether the new device will be adopted by the mainstream on the long term,” SuperData founder Joost van Dreunen told Polygon. “Can the Switch grow its install base once the swooning around Zelda dies down?”

It’s expected that Nintendo will speak more explicitly about the Switch’s sales performance when its financial quarter ends later this month. The company reportedly expects the Switch to ship 2 million units by the end of its first month on sale. It’s unclear whether it will pass that bar quite yet — and whether it will maintain its current momentum — but for an early March console release, it seems as though Nintendo has something to celebrate.