Why are Nintendo Switch sales peaking much later than other Nintendo consoles?

[The_Liquid_Laser]

There are several reasons Switch is peaking later, and most of them have been given: strong software, diverse software appealing to different people, etc....  However, there is another big reason that no one has mentioned yet.

Switch started Generation 9 on the early side.  Most gamers in 2017 were not ready to buy a Switch yet.  In 2017 the PS4 was still going strong, so all of those PS4 gamers really had no need for a new system. In 2018, PS4 had a fantastic year for software (and Switch's software was kinda meh until the end of the year).  But in 2019-2020, that was about the time people were ready to move on to another system. 

A similar thing happened with the Genesis.  It launched at a time when the NES was selling extremely well, and so it didn't sell a whole lot during the first couple of years.  However, around the time the SNES was released, the Genesis started to really sell and ended up being tough competition for the SNES in NA and Europe.  The Genesis had a slow start because it released early, but once Generation 4 got going, so did Genesis sales.  The Switch is doing the same type of thing.

Switch sales in 2017 were actually pretty low compared to what they are now.  The years 2017 and 2018 were actually Switch's slow period.  They seemed high at the time, because most people on this site had very low expectations for the Switch and also had no idea just how high it would peak.  But now that we see how well the Switch is actually selling, it should be clear that people needed a couple of years before they bought a Switch.  Think back to 2017.  It had a lot of fantastic software like Zelda, Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8, Odyssey, etc....  All of those games are still selling well.  All of those games are still selling the Switch.  If those 2017 games have that kind of selling power, then maybe 2017 was on the low side.  People just weren't ready yet.  They needed to be done with the PS4 before they could be ready to enjoy the Switch.

Last edited by The_Liquid_Laser - on 22 February 2021