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Nintendo Sets Goal Of 20 Million Switch Units By End Of Next Financial Year
Nintendo president Tatsumi Kimishima is setting a lofty goal for the Switch to hit by April 2019: doubling the current install base.
In a new Japanese interview, Kimishima believes that Nintendo's goal for the next financial year, which runs from April 1 2018 to March 31 2019, should be to hit 20 million Switch units sold. When Kimishima originally set a forecast for ten million units for the Switch's first year and beat that goal handily, already hitting the target install base months ahead of deadline.
As a comparison point, the PlayStation 4 hit 20 million by March 2015 after a November 2013 release, so Kimishima is aiming for roughly the same trajectory as the current market leader.
Our Take
The number isn't unreasonable on paper, but Switch sales were helped by launch momentum and having two of Nintendo's biggest games in the first year. There's no way to redo a system launching with Zelda and closing the year with Mario again, so Nintendo needs a big anchor to sell another ten million inside of the year without strong third party support. If they're that bullish, maybe Pokemon is coming sooner rather than later.
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