Nintendo Switch Passes 8 Million Units Sold in Japan and Is Now Very Close to PS4’s Lifetime Sales

Today’s weekly sales numbers provided by Famitsu combined with historical data reveal that Nintendo Switch passed a relevant milestone in Japan.

First of all, according to Famitsu’s estimates, the Switch sits at over eight million units sold-through to customers in the archipelago of the rising sun. To be more precise, it’s at 8,000,058 units.

Secondly, Nintendo’s console is also very close to passing the lifetime sales of its rival, the PS4. Sony’s console is currently at 8,033,587.

This new milestone was achieved as of Sunday, April 21, which is less than two years and two months after the release of the Switch on March 3, 2017. For the sake of comparison, the PS4 had a much less meteoric success on the local market, having achieved its current numbers in about five years and one month since its release on February 22, 2014. Basically, Nintendo’s console has sold on average 2.5 times faster than its rival from Sony.

It’s worth mentioning that there could be a slight discrepancy between Famitsu’s numbers and the old Media Create figures that we used to report. Media Create stopped providing its data publicly, so we have to settle on the best alternative.

Of course, things are quite different on the worldwide market, with the PS4 leading by a large margin. Yet, last night we heard that the Switch was at the top of NPD’s estimates related to the United States for both the month of March and the first quarter of 2019.