Nintendo Switch reaches 10 million sales less than nine months after launch

Nintendo plans to manufacture up to 30 million Switch consoles next year

Nintendo has sold more than ten million Switch consoles in less than nine months after its launch. While that is more than initially expected, it's still a way short of the 13.17 million sales achieved by the Wii in the same time frame.

It is, though, considerably better than its immediate predecessor, the Wii U, which had only sold 3.91 million ten-and-a-half months after launch, and the original Xbox, which sold 5.9 million in its first ten months.

The Wii U went on to sell just 13.56 million units over its four years of release.

Nintendo now plans to manufacture between 25 and 30 million units of the Switch in the next financial year, doubling down on the popularity of its Switch console. It is expecting the Switch to outsell the Wii U before the first anniversary of its launch - especially with the Switch expected to be a popular buy over Christmas.

Part of the success so far of the Switch has been playing to its obvious strengths.

When the Wii U came out, we had to wait for ages for a Zelda or flagship Mario title. This time, Nintendo dripped out Mario Kart, Mario Odyssey, a Rabbids crossover, Pokemon and Zelda in the months following the release of the Switch.

Scarcity has also helped to an extent, increasing its perceived value despite a relatively high price, and helping to limit discounting.

And the strong sales so far of the Switch has helped to bring on board a number of third-party games from developers that had held off supporting the Switch, fearing that the console would bomb and the effort would be wasted.

Forthcoming ports include Yooka-Laylee, Terraria, Minecraft - Story Mode, Syberia 3, Super Meat Boy, Darkest Dungeon, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Hollow Knight and Wolfenstein 2 - The New Colossus.