Nintendo Switch Predicted To Sell 40 Million Systems By End Of 2020

Research firm DFC Intelligence released a report this week in which it predicts that the Nintendo Switch will sell 40 million units by the end of 2020. As reported by GI.biz, that's almost three times as many consoles as the Wii U sold over its first four years. By Nintendo's latest count, the Wii U had sold 13.36 million units, compared to 100 million for the original Wii over the course of its lifetime.

Nintendo has said it will have 2 million Nintendo Switch units available worldwide for its launch month. However, Nintendo has not offered any kind of long-term sales prediction for the console.

According to DFC, 2 million units for March and a launch lineup of fewer than 10 titles might impact the console's ability to have a very strong start. "Demand is expected to be strong and the major issue will be whether the system can attract a broad audience starting in the holiday sales season of 2017," the DFC report said.

"The Switch is a compelling piece of hardware that could potentially reach a much larger addressable market," DFC boss David Cole said. "However given the limited software and Nintendo's poor recent track record of introducing new products we have tempered our forecasts to be conservative."

Get the full story on DFC's Nintendo Switch report here at GI.biz.

Not everyone believes the Nintendo Switch will be a big hit; some analysts have questioned whether it is innovative and can appeal to a wide audience.

"Sorry, but is a portable/home console approach really that innovative...? I am most concerned about the target group of the device: who else but die-hard Nintendo fans will buy the Switch?" analyst Dr. Serkan Toto said in 2016.

The Nintendo Switch launches on March 3, priced at $300. In other news, Nintendo has confirmed that there will be no video-streaming services available at launch; so no Netflix.