Nintendo sells over one million Switches in China

Nintendo Co Ltd (T: 7974) has shipped 1 million Switch (NYSE: SWCH) consoles in China since launching the device in the world's largest video game market in late 2019, said its Chinese partner Tencent Holdings (OTC: TCEHY) Ltd on Monday. The Japanese company launched its Switch console in China in December 2019 in partnership with distributor Tencent, China's largest video game and social media company, to expand the reach of the portable device for home use. The official figures released by Tencent suggest that Nintendo has overtaken <a class="tvreplink" target="_blank" href="https://www.tradingview.com/chart/?symbol=Nasdaq%3AMSFT">Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Sony Corp (T: 6758) as the largest console device seller in the country, according to consulting firm Niko Partners. The 1 million sales figure is greater than combined sales of Sony's (NYSE: SNE) PlayStation 4 and Microsoft's Xbox One over the same period, said Niko Partners analyst Daniel Ahmad. While initial sales were hampered by a limited number of available games and the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in China, they were later boosted in the country by the release of the popular Ring Fit Adventure home training game in August. A Tencent spokesman described the sales of the 2,099 yuan (US $ 323) devices as a "good start" and said, "The games released on Nintendo Switch (China-Exclusive Version) have been well received by the market." Globally, Nintendo predicts sales of 24 million Switch units through March 2021. Console games are still considered a niche market in China, the largest video game market in the world, where the focus is primarily on mobile games. Until 2014, console games were banned in the country and could only be purchased on the gray market. Microsoft's Xbox came to China in 2014, and Sony's PlayStation 4 consoles a year later. Switch consoles sold in China are locked down and buyers can only play games that have been approved by regulators. Tencent has so far released 13 games for the Chinese Nintendo Switch, but hits like "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" and "Animal Crossing" have not yet received the green light. Niko Partners predicts that console market sales in China will hit $ 2.15 billion in 2024, double what it was in 2019, driven by the success of Switch and the launch of the next generation of consoles. Most of the games released for the Chinese Nintendo Switch come from local developers, according to Ahmad von Niko. "China is important to Nintendo because it doesn't yet have a console culture like the US or Japan, which is a growth opportunity for the company."