In this article 7974.T-JP Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNT
TOPSHOT - A Super Mario character is pictured at a Nintendo display ahead of the launch of the company's Switch 2 console, an electronics store in the city of Nagoya, Aichi prefecture on June 2, 2025. Richard A. Brooks | Afp | Getty Images
The Switch has become Nintendo 's best-selling console of all time, nearly nine years after its release. The device's importance to the Japanese gaming giant cannot be understated. Ahead of the Switch's release in March 2017, Nintendo was coming off the back of a flop with the Wii U, with its share price having declined in the years prior. Since the Switch's release, Nintendo has more than tripled its valuation with its brand arguably becoming more popular than ever. "The company was in shambles after the previous console flopped hard, so the Switch marks a major turnaround in Nintendo's long history," Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, told CNBC. "It could have not come at a better time." The gaming giant said Tuesday that lifetime sales of the Switch now total 155.37 million units, surpassing the record of 154.02 million units that was held by the Nintendo DS, the company's most popular console. In third place sits the iconic Gameboy with 118.69 million units sold.
Switch timing key
Before the Switch came the ill-fated Wii U which Nintendo hoped would be as successful as the innovative Wii console. The Wii, released in 2006, was known for its handheld motion controllers that allowed users to mimic playing sports such as tennis. Nintendo sold more than 100 million units of the Wii. But the WiiU, released in 2012, sold just 13.56 million units. Some critics say confusing marketing over the console was to blame. Others say that it was facing intense competition from Sony 's PlayStation 4.
A Nintendo Wii U touch-screen controller displaying the "Super Mario Bros." game Akio Kon | Bloomberg | Getty Images
But the Wii U gave some hint for what Nintendo was going to attempt next. The company had employed a strategy of separate handheld consoles and those that hook up to a TV.
The Switch in 2017 blurred the lines. It was a console that gamers could play on a large screen, but users can also attach controllers to a portable screen and continue gaming on the go.
... continue reading