Nintendo Switch Passes Xbox 360 Sales in the US

With 2023 coming to a close, the Nintendo Switch overtook the Xbox 360 in total consoles sold in the United States as of November 2023. Though the Switch passed the mark that the Xbox 360 set in the mid-2010s when sales were discontinued, Nintendo’s hybrid console has still not claimed the overall top sales spot in the US.

In a November 2023 financial report, Nintendo revealed that the Switch had surpassed 132 million units sold, with figures dating back to the console’s March 2017 launch. Throughout its lifespan, the Switch’s portability, affordability, and library of games were Nintendo’s key selling points for the system, which is a strategy that has proven successful. Though rumors of a successor console continue to make waves across social media, that has not stopped Nintendo from keeping the Switch on the market, even as it prepares to turn seven in March 2024.

Now, Nintendo has another Switch sales milestone to tout based on data from Circana. According to Mat Piscatella, the Switch overtook the Xbox 360 for third place in overall total console sales in the US, with all variants such as the Switch Lite and Switch OLED taken into account. However, the Switch remained behind the Nintendo DS and the PlayStation 2, which sold over 51 million and 46 million units respectively in the US. According to reported figures from Microsoft, the Xbox 360 sold over 38 million units since its launch in November 2005. While Microsoft has since discontinued Xbox 360 sales shortly after the launch of the Xbox One, the Xbox 360 remains Microsoft’s top-selling console to date.

The Top 5 Best-Selling Consoles In the US (November 2023)

• Nintendo DS (>51 million)
• PlayStation 2 (>46 million)
• Nintendo Switch (>38 million)
• Xbox 360 (>38 million)
• PlayStation (>30 million)

In terms of global sales, the Switch outsold the Xbox 360 as early as 2021. The Xbox 360 has sold over 84 million units globally as of 2015. Since then, the Switch has easily surpassed that figure, both in the US and globally. But, the Switch still trailed both the DS and the PS2 in global sales. The PS2 sold over 155 million units worldwide from 2000 to 2012. The DS was not far behind at 154 million units sold from 2004 to 2016. The Game Boy and the PlayStation 4 rounded out the top five in global console sales, which sold 118 million and 117 million units respectively.

Only time will tell if the Switch will reach such a global milestone by the time its successor hits the market. All in all, Nintendo and its shareholders will have plenty of material to tout going into 2024, and the next console generation.

Nintendo Switch OLED Family Gaming Console

The Nintendo Switch OLED comes with a number of upgrades over the original Nintendo Switch console while retaining most of the same internals when it comes to maintaining compatibility. With a larger 7-inch OLED screen and double the internal storage of the original Nintendo Switch, it doesn’t feel like a new console altogether; That being said, it is an option worth checking out for better display alone.

4K Capabilities

No

Power Source

A/C Power, built-in battery

What’s Included

Console, Joycons, Dock, misc accessories

Brand

Nintendo

Screen

7-Inch, 720P

Game support

Nintendo Switch Titles, Retro games (emulated)

Processing Power

0.5 TFLOPs (Docked)

Storage

64GB, extendable via microSD

CPU

Custom Nvidia Tegra X1

Battery

Built in batteries in controller and console (4310mAh)

Connectivity

Wi-Fi, Ethernet

Dimensions

4.13 x 10.24 x 8.19 inches

Weight

3 Pounds

RAM

4GB