Nintendo has shipped 1 million Switch consoles in China since launching the system in the country at the close of 2019, according to its Chinese partner Tencent. This indicates that Nintendo has now surpassed both Microsoft and Sony as China’s biggest console device seller.
According to Niko Partners’ Daniel Ahmad, it is estimated that the total installed base of the Switch in the country is over 4 million units, taking into account the many units which have been imported from outside of China. Ahmed also confirms that with sales of 1 million units since 2019, the Switch has out-performed the combined sales of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in the same period.
China is the world’s biggest video game market, but it is dominated by mobile and PC games, with consoles being considered something of a niche proposition. Until 2014, consoles were banned in the region – but this is a precisely why China is such an important territory to succeed in, because there’s massive potential for growth, unlike North America, Japan or Europe.
Niko Partners thinks China’s console market revenue will climb to $2.15 billion in 2024 – making it twice as big as it was in 2019 – and being the top dog in such a profitable market is only going to help Nintendo. The popularity of the Switch in China is also going to help Nintendo increase its sales targets for the console, which has sold 68.30 million units worldwide as of September 30th, 2020.
Nintendo is predicting that it will sell 24 million Switch units for the year ending March 2021.
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