Switch Lite Misses Sales Projection For First 3 Days In Japan

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This article was originally written for TheNintendoVillage.com, a website I founded and ran from 2018 to 2021.

Japan loves a handheld, but it seems they’re not quite as keen on the new Switch revision as expected.

Famitsu estimate the smaller, portable sibling has shifted 177,936 units within its first three days on sale. This comes on the back of a report from Daniel Ahmed - a senior analyst at Niko Partners - that put the numbers at around 114,000.

The OG Switch got a bit of a bump on the back of all the Switch Lite and Link’s Awakening hype according to Ahmed, shifting 64,000 units compared to 52,000 the week before that.

Some forecasts had the Switch Lite doing double those numbers however, resulting in Nintendo’s share price taking a bit of a hit. We won’t get the full picture until the global figures are available in a month or so of course, but it seems like the lack of a stellar USP has left the more casual consumers confused as to the appeal.

Update: We’ve now heard, CIA Gamesindustry.biz, that UK sales were similarly underwhelming. The Lite sold 13,500 units in Britain, but retailers aren’t overly concerned.

They point to strong pre-order numbers for the Pokémon edition that’s arriving alongside Sword and Shield and are expecting it to pick up in the run-up to Christmas.

Did you pick up a Switch Lite? Let us know what you think of it down in the comments.