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Switch vs 3DS in Japan – VGChartz Gap Charts – April 2020 

Switch Vs. 3DS Japan:

Gap change in latest month: 114,766 - Switch

Gap change over last 12 months: 891,717 – Switch

Total Lead: 2,202,104 – 3DS

Switch Total Sales: 13,236,818

3DS Total Sales: 15,440,922

April 2020 is the 38th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for in Japan. During the latest month, the Switch closed the gap to the 3DS by 114,766 units. In the last 12 months, the Switch has outsold the 3DS by 891,717 units. The 3DS is currently ahead of the Switch by 2.20 million units.

The 3DS launched in February 2011 in Japan and the Nintendo Switch launched in March 2017. This does mean the normal holiday periods and the Japanese Golden Week holiday for the two consoles are off by one month.

The 38th month for the Switch is April 2020, while for the 3DS it is March 2014. The Switch has sold 13.24 million units, while the 3DS sold 15.44 million units during the same timeframe.

The 3DS has sold 24.60 million units lifetime in Japan through April 2020. The Switch is currently 9.16 million units behind the lifetime sales of the 3DS.

afaik Middle East is counted to Europe, though it might not have been at the time.

@bolded: PS2 died quickly in Japan, even before the PS3 got released. Just look at this graph with a 12 months moving average:

Notice how the sales started crashing down in Japan after ~60 months? At that point we are in March of 2005 and the PS3 is still 20 months away. At the point the PS3 launched the yearly moving average already dropped to 1M, and dropped to 500k a year later.

In other words, Japan only added ~2M to the PS2 sales after the PS3 launched. Similar trends in the US and Western Europe, or everywhere else where the console launched in 2000. But something big happened in 2005: The European Union got enlarged by 10 Easter European Members, and those got access to the console market along with it. Suddenly those countries could play on something more modern than some NES clone console, and the PS2 conquered those countries by storm. Same thing happened in the Middle East where they progressively opened up their markets to video games.

Those countries are also the reason why Europe is Sonyland: Nintendo and Microsoft came late to the party in these new markets for consoles and Sony had already conquered them by then. South America, especially Brazil, has a similar story to tell, though here it's mostly because only Sony bothered to build consoles there as console imports are ludicrously taxed (over 180% at some point iirc, which pretty much triples the price).

Add to this all the other emerging countries getting the console only after or around the launch of the PS3, and you can see why the PS2 had such a long shelf life, such long sales and such high sales in RoW.

PS4 would have to sell another 44 million systems from here on out to catch up to the DS.

I just can't see that happening, not with PS5 most likely just 6 months away, the system likely near saturation point thanks to being on the market for over six and half years, (PS2 by contrast had only been out for 5 years in Japan and 4.5 in the West when the PS3 was this close) no more significant market regions left to release in, and Sony seemingly content to squeeze maximum profit out of each unit rather than cut the price aggressively.

There's no shame in selling 130-140 million and being the third highest selling system of all time, it's still a remarkable achievement.

The story here is actually pretty similar to 3DS vs Switch worldwide.  Switch is still going to pass 3DS in the long run, but 3DS has an early lead.  But in Japan the 3DS's lead is significant enough that it may not be obvious.  The reasoning is still the same though.  3DS got a price cut in it's first year while Switch still hasn't had one.  Switch is in a much better posisiton to go the distance.

Yes, it will probably finish in this range, and probably with maybe one more 50$ pricecut.

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Switch vs PS4 in the US – VGChartz Gap Charts – April 2020

Switch Vs. PS4 US:

Gap change in latest month: 796,621 – PS4

Gap change over last 12 months: 2,451,182 – Switch

Total Lead: 1,591,127 - Switch

Switch Total Sales: 19,251,426

PS4 Total Sales: 17,660,299

April 2020 is the 38th month that the Nintendo Switch has been available for. During the latest month, the gap in the US between the Nintendo Switch and PlayStation 4 grew in favor of the PlayStation 4 when you align launches. The PS4 sold 796,621 more units than the Switch in the last month. However, in the last 12 months the Switch has grown its lead by 2.45 million units. The Switch currently leads by 1.59 million units.

The PlayStation 4 launched in the US on November 15, 2013, while the Nintendo Switch launched on March 3, 2017. Therefore, the holiday periods for the two consoles do not lineup, which is why there are big increases and decreases.

The 38th month on sale for the Nintendo Switch is April 2020, while for the PlayStation 4 it is December 2016. The Switch has sold 19.25 million units, while the PlayStation 4 sold 17.66 million units during the same timeframe.

The PlayStation 4 has been available for 78 months in the US and has sold 33.11 million units in the country. The Nintendo Switch is currently 13.86 million units behind the lifetime sales of the PlayStation 4.

Switch has this in the bag I reckon. It will a few years, but eventually Switch will overtake PS4's total and never look back.

Even with an extra holiday season in PS4's favour, it's still tracking ahead.

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PS4 vs Wii in the US – VGChartz Gap Charts – April 2020