If we base it on numbers, Nintendo Switch is clearly beating hometown rival PlayStation 4.
Nintendo Switch needed only four weeks to sell 500,000 units in Japan. This is based on a recent weekly report by Media Create, a Japanese sales data firm. The feat was faster than PlayStation 4 as its 500k mark was reached after seven weeks.
Nintendo Switch launched on March 3 and since then, it has shipped over 1.5 million units worldwide, with majority of sales credited to its flagship title The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild.
Nintendo Switch: 500K In Four Weeks
According to Media Create figures for the week of March 20-26, the Nintendo Switch sold a total of 78,441 units. This figure is up from its third week sale of 49,913. This brings the four-week total of Switch to 519,504 units, a feat Nintendo achieved faster than PlayStation 4. Sony's console sold 439,810 units in four weeks and only got to the half million mark after seven weeks. PlayStation 4 actually sold 519,773 (a figure similar to Nintendo's) in eight weeks.
However as one report noted, Switch's feat is still slower than its predecessor Wii U, which took only three weeks to sell 500,000 units; it sold 557,901 by Dec. 23, 2012. This is quite odd if not surprising given the lackluster reputation of Wii U throughout its run. As the report noted, the comparison is unfair since Wii U was sold during the holiday season, which would naturally cause an increase in sales.
Regarding its performance against PS4, the report also noted that the sales could be an indication that in Japan, consumers see the Switch more as a portable than a home console, which is an entirely different market. So the figures are not enough to conclude that the two consoles are affecting each other's sales.
Nintendo Switch's Big Week By The Numbers
Media Create is a Japanese company that gathers and analyzes data particularly in the console gaming market. Other business operations include publishing, market research, and consulting. The company prides itself with its "achievement, reliability, and speed" of data gathering and analysis.
For number-crunchers, here are the figures in Japan console sales in the week Nintendo Switch lorded over PlayStation 4 and other gaming devices, as well as their prior week sales:
• Switch – 78,441 (49,913)
• New 3DS LL – 29,771 (33,352)
• PlayStation 4 – 25,472 (28,805)
• PlayStation Vita – 7,574 (8,004)
• 2DS – 6,722 (6,131)
• PlayStation 4 Pro – 5,261 (5,823)
• PlayStation 3 – 2,930 (2,212)
• New 3DS – 2,866 (2,796)
• Wii U – 411 (368)
• Xbox One – 115 (135)
