The Switch has this week reinforced its position as the top portable video game system in Japan by surpassing the local lifetime sales count of Sony’s PlayStation Vita.
The Vita had a significant headstart, launching in Japan in 2011, compared to Nintendo’s hybrid device which released domestically last March. There’s been a recent surge in Switch sales leading into the holiday period and following the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee!
In less than two years of availability within Japan, the Switch has now shifted more than six million units (approx. 6,112,100). In the past week, the system sold another 281,222 units. The Vita’s current total sits at 5,955,448 units and is unlikely to see a return to form with Sony announcing in September it was stepping away from the handheld game business in 2019 and had no plans for a future portable device.
On both occasions, Sony’s handheld systems have failed to make an impact like Nintendo’s portable hardware. This includes the company’s inability to match the sales momentum of the DS and 3DS, allowing Nintendo to once again dominate the small-screen video game market with key franchises on Switch such as Mario and Pokémon.
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