Niko Partners estimates Nintendo Switch sell through exceeds 50,000 units on launch day in China

We estimate that more than 50,000 Nintendo Switch consoles (Tencent China Version) have been sold through to consumers in China on launch day according to data from online retailers and our market model. The official China version of the Nintendo Switch launched on December 10, 2019 for RMB 2,099 ($300). A demo version of New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe is pre-installed on the console with a full version of the game available to purchase from the eShop for RMB 299. Other titles such as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Super Mario Odyssey are scheduled to release in the coming weeks. Nintendo first announced in April that it was working with Tencent to bring the Switch, which released globally in March 2017, to China.

Online retailer JD.com noted that the console sold through more than 20,000 units via its website with 47% of buyers aged between 16-25. TMall reported similar data with sell through of 10,000 units by 10am with 75% of buyers under the age of 30. We note that a number of day 1 buyers already owned the grey market version of the console. With over 50,000 units sold on launch day, the official China version of the Nintendo Switch is on track to reach our initial forecast of 100,000 units by the end of 2019. We believe that the Nintendo Switch will replace PlayStation 4 as the market leader in China by 2022 when accounting for both legal and grey market sales.

Our coverage of the Nintendo Switch launch in China can be found here. For more information on the China console market please see our comprehensive report, market model, and 5 year forecast through 2023 published in July 2019.