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Miyamotoo on 16 December 2018
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colafitte said:
 
 
Miyamotoo said:

Again, its far more easier to compare official ship number than anything else:

-3DS launch vs Switch Launch (march 2011. vs march 2017) - 3.6m vs 2.74m (have on mind that Switch was completely sold out on launch while 3DS wasn't)

-3DS FY 2011. (April 2011. - March 2012) vs Switch FY 2017. (April 2017. - March 2018) - 13.5m vs 15.05m

-3DS FY 2012. (April 2012. - March 2013) vs Switch FY 2018. (April 2018. - March 2019) - 13.95m vs 18m+ (bare minimum)

-3DS FY 2013. (April 2013. - March 2014) vs Switch FY 2019. (April 2019. - March 2020) - 13.53m vs 20m+ (projected year with all things we know about 2019. Switch year for now, including confirmed games, very possible price cut and new revision)

 

So like you can see, 3DS only has stronger launch month and only reason for that is that Switch was completely sold out while 3DS that wasnt and 3DS actually received huge price cut only 6 months after launch. So right after launch month, Switch in its first hole fiscal year whithout any price cut and with huge stock problems sold better than 3DS that had huge price cut (from $250 to $170-180) in order to start selling better. In second full fiscal year Switch will sell around 5m units more than 3DS did in same year, in third year difference will be even bigger.

And yes, when comparing Switch vs 3DS sales, point that 3DS had huge price cut while Switch still did not definitely counts, because that points that Switch achieving this sales without need for huge price cut compared to 3DS, and that means much healthier sales in any case.

Yes, 3DS was doing better than Switch in same time period in Japan, but on all other markets outside Japan, Switch is selling much better than 3DS in same time period. Also for comparison, Switch was selling better than 3DS in Japan until 3DS didn't receive price cut, only after that huge price cut 3DS had stronger sales in Japan than Switch did in some time period. What is currently keeping Switch from selling better or similar to 3DS in Japan is $300 price point that for plenty people is very high price point, for people that look at Switch only like handheld device and on market where plenty of people buying handheld device per person (and $300 Switch still has high price point for something like that). Also have on mind that 3DS sales in Japan were very strong in any case, 3DS third best selling gaming hardware ever in Japan, counting every home console and every handheld, only DS and GameBoy and GameBoy Color combined sold better than 3DS in Japan.

Again, i used selling numbers of this site because it was faster, but official shipping numbers are just usually 1-2m more than sold, for each console, so the comparison is still the same between 3ds and Switch. And again, 18M+ and 20M+ for FY18 and FY 19 are more wishful thinking than anything. 3DS had very good games during its 3th and 4th year too and 3DS did not explode in sales like you expect Switch to do.

And i repeat again, the price point is irrelevant in what i was saying. We were talking about unit sales, period. The reasons why one or another is doing the numbers doesn't matter in what i said. I said people were saying Switch was doing way better than 3DS (saleswise, obviously i meant), and i just pointed out that is was not true, at least, until now.

 

Look, i expect Switch doing better than 3DS like i explained in a post earlier, but if 3DS is around 73M after almost 8 years on the market, we should not expect more than 80M after 6 years for Switch, because we know what happened with every Nintendo console in the last 30 years, and no, Switch is not that different than another Nintendo handheld... In fact, in my opinion why Switch is doing better, is just because it has better software than 3DS in its first 2 years, that's all, not because the hardware in itself.

Comparing official ship numbers for both consoles have much more sense in any case than comparing sales estimates that are constantly being adjusted. No, quite opposite, wishful thinking would be expecting anything less than 18m in FY 2018. and less than 20m in FY 2019, with sales we having for current Q3 and things we know about 2019. Its very obvious that Switch is not 3DS in any case, Switch is selling better than 3DS in same time period without price cut and any revision, and if Switch sell couple millions more in FY 2019. than will in FY 2018. that wouldnt be explosion of sales in any case.

You are wrong, we comparing sales of two platforms, and when you do that you need to consider that 3DS had huge price cut only 6 months after launch in order to start selling, while Switch still has launch price point and its selling better than 3DS. And yes, Switch in its second full year on market start selling much better than 3DS was doing, NPD sales proves that, and next month Nintendo results for Nov-Dec period will also prove that.

 

We definitely should minimum 80m after 6 years for Switch, what you fail to see is that Switch is not like any previous Nintendo platform, and Switch is also different compared to previous Nintendo handhelds. Switch is unified Nintendo platform, that means all Nintendo focus and (undivided) support in any case just for one platform compared to any previous Nintendo generation, also Switch is selling to both home console and handheld market. Switch had better software, but hybrid nature of Switch is far appealing concept than 3DS in any case, Switch is selling to handheld and home console lowers in any case, 3DS was selling only to handheld lovers. You can think whatever you want, fact is that Switch is selling in this year better than 3DS+Wii U did combined in their second year on market on strongest market for Nintendo (US).

Last edited by Miyamotoo - on 16 December 2018