Nintendo's new video game console, the Switch, is a hit. It's sold out at many stores, and Nintendo is struggling to keep up with demand.
Nintendo says the Switch is its fastest-selling console in history - besting the Wii and the Super Nintendo, among others.
Nintendo
And now we have a number to put to that claim: "The Nintendo Switch system sold more than 906,000 units in March," according to Nintendo. Considering that the console launched on March 3, that's 28 days of potential sales - approximately 33,000 consoles were sold each day, on average.
Not too shabby, especially considering that the console launched in March rather than the traditional holiday season launch window. The idea, of course, is to capitalize on holiday season consumer interest: People buy more stuff during the holiday season than the rest of the year. Nintendo instead chose to launch in a relatively quiet time of the year for the video game industry (the first quarter), and reaped the benefits as a result.
It also didn't hurt that "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild" - an incredible game that received near-universal praise from critics and consumers alike - launched alongside the Switch.
Nintendo
To that point, "Breath of the Wild" was also a sales monster. It sold over 1.3 million units between the Switch and the Wii U (where the game also appears); in fact, more copies of the game were actually sold for Switch than consoles to play it on. Nintendo attributes this bizarre phenomenon to "people who purchased both a limited edition of the game to collect and a second version to play."
Either way, it's an impressive first month of sales for Nintendo's new console; whether the long-time Japanese game console maker can sustain that momentum is another question altogether. With the launch of "Mario Kart 8 Deluxe" in April and "Splatoon 2" this July, there are some major exclusive games for the Switch on the horizon. How many people are convinced to buy the Switch as a result of those releases remains to be seen.