The Nintendo Switch is on track to be more successful than its predecessor console, the Wii U, by leaps and bounds. In September 2017 Nintendo had shipped out 7.6 million units of the system and by March 2018 those numbers may have reached as high as 14 million. This is a re-estimation based on improved data from an earlier one which saw Nintendo expect to ship only 10 million of the portable and home console.
If all of this pans out as planned, that will mean close to 17 million Switches have been shipped in the first 13 months of it going on sale (thanks GamesIndustry).
The Wii U was not an abject failure per say, but it never quite captured the imagination of audiences in the way the Switch appears to. It struggled to breach 10 million systems sold and even when it did, it barely broke through 13 million after five years of availability. Its game library and lack of third-party support didn't help, but many people pointed to the lack of need for a chunky, child-like tablet in a market where so many affordable tablet alternatives existed.
With the Switch though, Nintendo has tapped into something much more tangible. People love the way you can bring it with you wherever you go, the vibrant screen, the small bezel, but perhaps most importantly the strong game library right out of the gate. With a proper Mario game now out in the wild, that love is only likely to increase.
Which is a major part of why the Switch is shipping so well. It's important to highlight that units shipped does not equate units sold, so while the Switch may ship upwards of 16 million systems in early 2018, it may not have sold anything quite like that. It is a clear indication that Nintendo expects to have sold that many in the near future though and that's a great sign for the console's life and should see a lot of new games coming out of that platform because of it.
