When the Nintendo Switch first launched in March of 2017, many people were excited to see this new console taking off — especially since its predecessor, the Nintendo Wii U, had sold so poorly. Fortunately, the Switch was a massive succes, and the console has been breaking quite the few sales records since.
The latest bit of information comes from Nintendo's official fiscal year earnings release, which reveals that the Nintendo Switch family of systems — which, in case you were wondering, is now including the Switch Lite — has managed to sell over a very impressive 55.77 million units as of the 31st of March, 2020.
This means that, according to the information officially released by Nintendo, the Nintendo Switch was able to sell over 21.03 million units from the 1st of April, 2019 until the 31st of Marc,2020. As if that wasn't enough, this also means that the Switch's year-on-year sales went up by a 24.0%.
Nintendo Switch Lite sales, as mentioned above, are also included, and these amount a total of 6.19 million units sold since September of 2019 — which is when the handheld-only version of the Switch launched worldwide.
To put things into perspective, lifetime sales for the Nintendo Wii exceed 101.63 million units ,and the original Nintendo Entertainment System's lifetime sales surpass 61.91 million units.
At this rate, the Nintendo Switch will be surpassing the NES' lifetime sales at some point this year, but it is unlikely that it will be surpassing the Nintendo Wii's lifetime sales any time soon; it's on its track, though.
Considering that the Nintendo Switch is also a handheld hybrid, it is only fair to compare it to the Game Boy and the Nintendo DS — which are actually the second and third best-selling consoles in history, only outsold by Sony's PlayStation 2.
When it comes to the Game Boy family of systems, lifetime sales surpass 118.69 million consoles, while the Nintendo DS was able to sell a staggering 154.02 million units. The Switch has just entered its third year on the market, so it might be able to, at least, come close to the Game Boy's lifetime sales; only time will tell.