Superdata research: 5m in sales for Switch before end of 2017

SuperData Research have estimated that Nintendo’s Switch console is to finish this year with 5 million units sold, but have suggested that there could be a slow start with the research outfit pointing to a lack of must-buy software leading to a slowly adoption rate.

This "absence of strong launch titles", and the $300 price tag — without a bundled game — both suggested as potential reasons for a slow start, with Superdata suggesting that it could be perceived as having a higher barrier to entry than the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. The fact that much of Nintendo’s fanbase already owns one of the two competing consoles is estimated to be another challenge for Nintendo.

Indeed, five million sales by the end of the year is a slow start in comparison to the PlayStation 4 — which sold 5.3 million units in less than three months — but would be a plus for the company after the Wii U, with Nintendo’s previous company disappointing with just 5.86 million units flogged in the consoles first 14 months.

It’s important to remember the Wii was a runaway success, which sold 101.63m units. Other boons to the Nintendo Switch’s sales will be its first-party launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which currently has a metacritic of 98% and seems to be a critical darling. Whether this will be communicated to the buying public remains to be seen, and we’ll likely have to wait to see how successful the Switch is at launch.