The Xbox One is looking to turn its fortunes around this year, but it faces unexpected opposition from a resurgent Nintendo, and their record breaking Switch. The question now is, for people who already own consoles, will they be likelier to part with $300 for an all new Switch, or spend money on an Xbox instead? For newcomers, will the word of mouth around the Switch’s lineup, especially Zelda, be enough to make them pick up that system?
According to Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, yes. The Switch is going to outsell the Xbox One this year, in spite of the impending launch of the Xbox One X.
“[It will be] close .. I would say Switch could sell as many as 14 million, and if that happens, then that’s more than Xbox One. Xbox One is probably going to sell about 10-11 million, but again Microsoft doesn’t tell you and there is no way to measure anymore,” Pachter said. “But I think Xbox One is on track to sell 10-11 Million a year, Switch is gonna do that 10-11 could sell more but it really depends and I need to get through to a holiday season to see.”
Honestly, that sounds about right- since its launch, the Switch has consistently been outselling the Xbox One and the PS4 worldwide, and even if the Xbox comes roaring back in the Holiday season off of the launch of the Xbox One X, it will have to compensate for the Switch’s eight month lead in sales in just two- which seems highly unlikely. We’ll see.