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Nintendo Switch passes 50m sales milestone

Meaning it has likely now overtaken Xbox One.

Nintendo's hugely-successful Switch console has now sold 52.48m units worldwide since release in March 2017.

Switch sales in the nine months ending 31st December 2019 were 17.7m (up 22.5 per cent year-on-year), fuelled by the launch of the Switch Lite model. Switch games have also been selling like hot cakes.

In all best estimates, this means Switch has now pipped the hardware sales total of Microsoft's Xbox One, which launched in November 2013.

Microsoft hasn't reported Xbox console sales figures for a few years, opting instead to track success via subscription numbers for Xbox Live and Game Pass.

But games industry analysts now seem confident Switch has passed the ~50m milestone Xbox One is currently sitting on.

"According to our estimates the Nintendo Switch passed the Xbox One in hardware shipments during the holiday quarter last year," trusted Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad wrote today.

"The Xbox One is not too far behind, but it has only taken Switch 34 months to achieve what the Xbox One did in 74 months."

PlayStation 4, which debuted in November 2013, is currently sitting atop an enviable 106m.

But Switch is currently selling faster at the same point in its lifespan than any PlayStation rival, and only slightly behind Wii when compared with Nintendo consoles.