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GI.biz: Nintendo Switch sells 80,000 in the UK in its opening weekend

D

DKHF

Member
http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2017-03-06-strong-start-for-nintendo-switch-in-the-uk

Speaking to retailers this morning, Nintendo Switch has sold around 80,000 units in the UK during its opening weekend.

That's double the number of Wii U consoles that were sold during its opening weekend (40,000 back in late 2013).

It's not as high as 3DS' debut, which was 113,000 according to Nintendo. Nor does it come close to the PS4 launch (250,000) or the Xbox One launch (150,000).

However, it is a strong and steady performance for the machine. There wasn't a huge number of units pushed into the channel (some units were sold out at major retailers) and the marketing and PR campaign was truncated and arrived late in the day. Retailers tell us that they were very happy with the launch and one store even declared: "Nintendo is back."
Click to expand...

Previous Nintendo UK hardware launch sales:
Bruno MB said:
I agree about Nintendo Switch having a strong launch in the UK given the circumstances (here a comparison table), now we will have to wait how it performs during the next weeks, months. With the poor line-up that basically consists of just one game sales should slow down very fast though.

There isn't any upcoming new retail game in March, and the next big title will not be released until April 28.

Code: 
[B]Nintendo Hardware UK Launch Sales:[/B]

Game Boy Advance - 67,000
Nintendo GameCube - 69,000
Nintendo DS - 87,000
Nintendo Wii - 105,000
Nintendo 3DS - 113,000
Nintendo Wii U - 40,000
Nintendo Switch - 80,000

Upcoming Nintendo Switch releases:

March: Nothing
April: LEGO City Undercover (7th), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (28th) and Puyo Puyo Tetris (28th).
Click to expand...

Comparison with some non-Nintendo systems thanks to ZhugeEX:

250k - PS4
165k - PS3
150k - XB1
113k - 3DS
105k - Wii
80k - Switch
70k - 360
40k - Wii U
 
D

dc89

Member
I think Nintendo will be happy with that, double the Wii U and all that which had a more varied launch lineup of games.
 
G

gtj1092

Member
And it still didn't sell out. Not bad I guess. But less sells than 3DS and Wii u combined when it's supposed to be combining the fan bases.

Edit: also I expect lots of congratulations that it beat Wii u but it's supposed to be the 3DS successor.
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
As I wrote in the PAL thread I think it is a decent number, but not really great. At least is much better than Wii U, but still quite lower than 3ds which also launched in March.
 
D

Donniewahlberg

Banned
Well, it's not the 3ds' launch numbers but it's what, double what the Wii U launched at? You have to imagine the entire purpose of the switch is to get as many people onboard with a Ninty home console as are onboard with the 3ds, so it's already a decent punt towards that goal compared to what the Wii U achieved. Guess time will tell how it works out.
 
F

faridmon

Member
Good considering Nintendo never sold all that well here since the DS craze. Nintendo is not as attractive name these days compered to Sony in UK.

Solid numbers
 
K

Kenzodielocke

Banned
Bruno MB said:
I agree about Nintendo Switch having a strong launch in the UK (here a comparison table), now we will have to wait how it performs during the next weeks, months.

Nintendo Hardware UK Launch Sales:

Game Boy Advance - 67,000
Nintendo GameCube - 69,000
Nintendo DS - 87,000
Nintendo Wii - 105,000
Nintendo 3DS - 113,000
Nintendo Wii U - 40,000
Nintendo Switch - 80,000
Click to expand...


I don't think there is any negative thing to say here, given it's the UK. Markets like France or Germany are more important I think.
 
B

Blablurn

Member
Jeff Gerstmann once said that Nintendo fans would buy the Switch on launch either way. No matter what it is or how many units are available. The long run of the console will be interesting. Very interesting. At least Mario Kart is coming next month already.

Furthermore it will be interesting to see if continuing connectivity problems with the joycons will have an impact on future sales. If there is really a problem, Nintendo must fix it.
 
J

jonno394

Member
An improvement on the Wii U situation. The next few weeks are important, and imo, Nintendo really should have pushed Mario Kart to be out before the Easter Holidays to try and push more devices over that period when kids are off school.
 
S

Striek

Member
Above Wii U, below Wii, well below other consoles.

I think its right in that murky middle ground where its not a high enough number to be outright good, especially since its not sold out absolutely everywhere, but not low enough to be outright bad, especially since its not available everywhere.


Whether or not its a decent launch has a lot to do with whether or not its meant to replace the 3DS as well as the Wii U. Can't see these numbers exciting publishers though.
 
S

Shiggy

Member
As for Breath of the Wild, 78 per cent of the game’s sales were for Switch and 22 per cent for Wii U. The Switch game ranks as the third biggest Zelda launch ever behind Wind Waker and Twilight Princess.

Breath of the Wild accounted for 75 per cent of all total Switch software sales for the week, with two others making the Top Ten – 1-2 Switch at No.4 and Super Bomberman R at No.7. The Switch version of Just Dance 2017 also sees that game re-enter the Top 40 at No.24, although Skylanders Imaginators misses out on a Top 40 spot despite the new Switch version.
Click to expand...

http://www.mcvuk.com/news/read/horizon-zero-dawn-beats-zelda-to-no-1/0179703

Twilight Princess launched exclusively on Wii, so the Switch is probably trailing behind the Wii in the UK.
 
Z

Zedark

Member
Seems like it sold out at many major retailers according to the article, so I guess this is about the max it could do. Here's hoping it will maintain good sales in the coming weeks and months!
 
G

Goodlife

Member
3DS was coming on the back of the best ever selling console / handheld though so no surprise it sold more.

Switch was coming on the back of the Wii U.

(mind you, that arguement falls down when you consider the Wii U was coming on the back of the Wii...... Although the Wii was well and truly dead at that point)
 
K

KingSnake

The Birthday Skeleton
This week will still be driven a lot by Zelda and the great word of mouth it brings but the question is how it will do from next week onward. Splatoon testfire might help it close to the end of the month but after that there's a lot of empty time until MK8D launches.
 
D

Donniewahlberg

Banned
jonno394 said:
An improvement on the Wii U situation. The next few weeks are important, and imo, Nintendo really should have pushed Mario Kart to be out before the Easter Holidays to try and push more devices over that period when kids are off school.
Click to expand...

I do agree with that. They're doing what they can to mitigate that problem, there's already MArio Kart 8 DX ads running on kids tv in the morning, probably hoping people will buy in anticipation but yea, having MK out earlier would have been nice.
 
C

Cepheus

Member
That's great to hear, coming from the UK myself. Anecdotal, but I know at least five people IRL who are interested in getting one and all really wanted to try out Zelda on my Switch, whereas I was the only person I knew who had a Wii U for around three years and most of my gamer friends genuinely thought it was a controller for the Wii.
 
SCB3

SCB3

Member
Thats pretty good really, Nintendo has a weird relationship with the UK as well, the marketing in store at places like GAME has been so minimal as well
 
U

Ushojax

Should probably not trust the 7-11 security cameras quite so much
Launching with a serious game obviously made a difference. Hard to believe they launched 3DS and Wii U with an outsourced Pilotwings game and a cheap NSMB entry.
 
L

LordKano

Member
It is a good launch. Nothing oustanding, but it's tracking ahead of Nintendo failures (Wii U, GameCube) and seems to have been a bit hindered by some stock issues (of course, nothing compared to the huge stock issues PS4 had, for example).
 
S

spekkeh

Banned
Not particularly good when you're comparing it with 3DS numbers, which also launched in March. Switch should do better than 3DS to be considered a success I'd say (though I doubt many people will triple dip on Switch revisions like with the 3DS). Right now the price is probably hurting it a bit. At least it's no Wii U situation.

Edit: I guess it sold out most of the launch allotment, so maybe Nintendo just sent out less to the UK this time around.
 
P

Paul_Str337

Member
80,000 has to been seen as a success for Nintendo in the UK because I can't for the life of me find a Switch console available online or for collection anywhere near me. It stands that if there were more consoles out they would have sold more. I remember the Wii U was readily available since launch; 40,000 was nowhere near the number of consoles available.
 
C

cw_sasuke

If all DLC came tied to $13 figurines, I'd consider all DLC to be free
They likely made more money on the Switch launch compared to all other launches before. Price of the system and pretty much ever one getting Zelda that's a lot of money spent for Nintendo in one of their weakest main markets.

Pretty good for a March launch in this day and age following WiiU.
 
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