Nintendo Switch Vs. Wii U Sales: New Console Is Nintendo's Best-Selling Release

Nintendo initially touted that the Switch had strong sales upon its launch in early March. Now, we have some idea of how popular the new Nintendo console is among buyers.

According to analyst firm NPD Group, the Switch sold more than 906,000 units in March within the United States. The Switch's strong launch performance also carried over to its software, as "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" sold more than 1.3 million units.

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NPD Group attributes the difference between the number of game units sold versus console units to collectors who bought both a limited edition and standard version of "Breath of the Wild."

The news gives a concrete number to various estimates from Nintendo officials and lines up with past initial sales figures for the Nintendo Switch. In March, Nintendo president Reggie Fils-Aime touted that the Switch had the best opening weekend sales for a Nintendo console and analysts had previously calculated that the console had hit sales of 1.5 million units worldwide in its first week. Nintendo is expected to release a full breakdown of initial Switch sales when the company issues its fiscal-year earnings April 27.

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While exact numbers are unavailable, the Switch's initial sales numbers still line up favorably with current and past console releases. As Eurogamer pointed out, the Wii U took 41 days to sell approximately 890,000 units in the U.S. Against current-generation competition, the Xbox One hit 2 million worldwide units sold in its first 18 days on the market, while the PlayStation 4 sold 2.1 million units worldwide in its first month on sale.