Nintendo announced today, via the company's financial briefing that the
Nintendo Switch had already managed to sell over a very impressive 36 million units in lifetime sales, while sales of its predecessor — the Nintendo 3DS — are currently dropping.
According to the consolidated financial highights report, hardware sales for the Nintendo 3DS only managed to bring in 0.2 million units; meaning a 44.9% sales drop on a year-on-year basis. Incidentally, software sales only brought in 1.48 million units — which is a 49.7% drop for the same time period.
As far as Nintendo's stance on the 3DS Family of Systems,
The Big N states that they will "
continue to leverage the platform’s rich software library to appeal to consumers purchasing game hardware for the first time,"all of this in hopes to keep driving
"sales of evergreen titles that leverage its hardware install base."
This agrees with sayings by Nintendo of America Chief Operating Officer Doug Bowser, who stated that the
recently announced Nintendo Switch Lite would
not be replacing the Nintendo 3DS in the handheld console market.
Bowser's comments on the Nintendo 3DS reaffirmed what Reggie Fils-Aimé — Nintendo of America former Chief Operating Officer — had said regarding the company still supporting the system
as long as there is demand for it — who, at the time, was also echoing
Nintendo Japan President Tatsumi Kimishima's sayings.
While the Nintendo 3DS' lifespan may be reaching its inevitable end, it is undeniable that its vast library of titles — consisting of both Nintendo DS and 3DS games — is still quite appealing for anyone who still prefers an even more affordable handheld console than the Nintendo Switch Lite.