The Nintendo Switch has been the best-selling console in the United States for 23 straight months

It’s been two good years for the Nintendo Switch. According to Nintendo, the gaming tablet has been the best-selling console in the US for 23 months in a row. And according to data from the NPD Group, it just experienced its best-ever October, moving 735,926 units of both the Switch and Switch Lite in the US. The company says that is an increase of 136 per cent compared to last year. To date, the Switch has sold 22.5 million units in the US, and last week Nintendo revealed that more than 68 million units have been sold globally. “We’re excited about the momentum we’re building,” says Nick Chavez, senior vice president of sales and marketing, Nintendo.

Chávez attributes the company’s big month of October to two main factors. One is the best supply of shares; This year especially, the Switch has often been difficult to find on store shelves. This has been exacerbated by increased demand due to a combination of the epidemic and its successful spread Animal Crossing: New Horizons. “Certainly, the Covid pandemic has created more opportunities to stay at home, and more play time at home,” he says. the edge. “We have seen unprecedented demand for the Nintendo Switch over the course of the year.”

The second reason is Animal crossing– The themed switch that was introduced early this year. “It came back to the market around October 4th,” Chavez says, “and a lot of people were excited to get their hands on it as quickly as possible.” “And we’ll continue to have that in abundance throughout this holiday and into 2021.”

As in the past year, Nintendo says a large part of its growth comes from continued adoption by women and families. “Much of our growth was driven this year by the influx of women playing the Nintendo Switch, more kids and teens playing the Nintendo Switch, and more parents,” Chavez says. In terms of devices people buy, he adds: “We still see a strong preference for the flagship at $ 299.”

The timing of the announcement is particularly interesting as this week also saw the launch of both PlayStation 5 and two new Xbox consoles from Microsoft. With the ever-important holiday season entering, there will naturally be increasing competition, which could bring Nintendo’s 23-month series to a halt. Nintendo has a few big releases to further its holiday – including Mario Kart Live: Home Arena And the next Hyrule Warriors: The Age of Catastrophe But the company also thinks it’s not necessarily in direct competition with Sony and Microsoft.

“It’s always exciting for new consoles to enter the video game market. It’s great to see the PS5, Xbox Series S and X enter the market,” says Chavez. “But we think the Nintendo Switch is in a completely different position, and it really has a unique offering for shoppers and gamers. . “