The Nintendo Switch has officially outsold its handheld predecessor, the Nintendo 3DS. The Nintendo 3DS launched back in 2011, and it's only recently been discontinued. This past month, an infographic allowed Nintendo enthusiasts to visualize the company's console sales since the SNES era. The Wii and DS are by far the best-selling consoles from Nintendo, as the Wii sold 101.6 million units and the DS sold 154 million units. The Switch has been selling incredibly well, as it sold more than every other console combined in the United Kingdom in 2020.
There are also rumors circulating regarding a Switch Pro. President of Nintendo of America Doug Bowser recently shot down those rumors in an interview last month, but a new datamine suggests that Nintendo has something bigger up its sleeve. A line of code insinuates that a Switch Pro will arrive sometime soon with 4K graphics, an OLED screen, and an improved battery life and cooling system.
As shared by Nintendo Life, the Switch has officially succeeded the 3DS in terms of sales numbers as of December 26. The Switch has sold roughly 76,285,948 units, and the 3DS has sold 75,906,986 units. In essence, the Nintendo Switch has achieved in less than four years what the 3DS achieved in its entire lifetime, which is almost an entire decade. Nintendo Life also reports that the Wikipedia page for a list of the best-selling video game consoles has yet to be updated with this new information at the time of this writing.
Given how close the Switch was to outselling the 3DS back in September, it was practically inevitable that the Switch would eventually surpass the 3DS' sales numbers. In September, it had sold approximately 68 million units, so it didn't have all that much catching up to accomplish. The Switch has been selling remarkably well, and, as mentioned earlier, it took the 3DS nearly a complete decade to achieve its sales numbers of 75.9 million units. The Switch is highly likely to sell even more.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons and the holiday season also probably propelled the Switch's sales numbers, as Animal Crossing: New Horizons released just at the beginning of quarantine. Everyone was stuck at home, and what better way is there to pass the time than by playing Animal Crossing? The Switch Pro feels like it could be reality at this point, and it would only help Nintendo sell even more Switch consoles. Also, with games like Metroid Prime 4 and the sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild already confirmed, the sales figures for the Nintendo Switch will only get higher.
Source: Nintendo Life