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Nintendo Sells 2.6 Million Units Of Hardware In The U.S. In December Alone
As the hibernating bear of sales analysis wakes up from its post-Christmas lull, it is time for companies to brag about how much hardware they sold over the holiday. First up is Nintendo, which boasts an absurd 2.6 million units of hardware in the month of December, an exceptionally high number even for the Christmas season.
The numbers, delivered by the NPD Group, include the Switch, the Nintendo 3DS, and the SNES Classic Edition, with the sales ranking in that order. The Switch, which notably had no official holiday bundle or discount of any kind, lead the charge with 1.5 million units sold during December, which brings its grand total up to 4.8 million. This confirms Nintendo's insistence earlier that the Switch is the fastest selling console in U.S. history.
The 3DS follows behind with 750,000 units sold, a nearly 30 percent increase over the previous December. The higher sales were likely spurred on by Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon, as well as the 3DS providing a cheaper handheld alternative to the more expensive Switch, but that kind of increase is still fairly unprecedented.
Most notably, that increase makes December 2017 the best month of sales for the 3DS since the same month in 2014.
Our Take
The Switch had a great first year, which technically isn't even complete for another month and a half. The 3DS sales justify Nintendo's reluctance to let go of the system, so it wouldn't surprise me to see some more small software stay on the 3DS for at least a little bit longer.
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