SNES and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive hardware sales comparison

[Celine]

Recently there was demand from people asking which console sold more in U.S. between SNES and Sega Genesis.

NPD Group sell-through estimates put the SNES ahead by about 1.5 million units.
SNES: 20.0M
Sega Genesis: 18.5M

Source

It has to be said that sell-through estimates for old consoles aren't as accurate as today.
Thankfully we are fortunate enough to also know the consoles sell-in for each fiscal year as reported by Nintendo and Sega, though in general it was split for macro regions (Japan/America/Others or Japan/Outside Japan) therefore the specific shipments for the U.S. market aren't known.

Total sales (sell-in) Worldwide:
SNES: 49.10M
Sega Genesis/Mega Drive: 30.75M

Comparison between SNES and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive consoles sell-in for each fiscal year during their more active period as reported by the respective console manufacturer:

Worldwide

Outside Japan

Japan

So the general outlook of the 16-bit generation was that SNES and Sega Genesis/Mega Drive were pretty close in western markets (depending on the specific market market one was on top of the other) while SNES (Super Famicom) was the dominant force in Japan, with PC Engine netting a distant second place there but locking down the nascent CD rom gaming market (with an install base of roughly 2 million CD players in the Country).

 

[WestEgg]

Both of these systems had surprisingly good tails heading into the next gen launch, Genesis in Japan aside. Just shows what some great high profile releases can do for a system (DKC for SNES, Mortal Kombat for Genesis, though there are more). 95-96 SNES seems especially good.

 

[fiendcode]

Worth also noting that Nintendo kept shipping SNES/SFC units through 2001 managing a total of 17.18 in Japan and 32.06m outside Japan . I'm not entirely sure but I believe Sega stopped MD/Gen shipments after 1996 (along with GG, MCD, etc as a corporate refocusing on Saturn) but they continued sublicensing the platform for manufacture overseas by TecToy, Majesco and possibly others.

 

[zroid]

History repeats itself. NSW/PS4 are like the modern day SFC/MD.

 

[Man God]

It's hard to explain just how big a deal DKC was. It legitimately looked better than some early PS1 and Saturn games and fooled people into thinking SNES was capable of hanging around.

 

[sfortunato]

Both of these systems had surprisingly good tails heading into the next gen launch, Genesis in Japan aside. Just shows what some great high profile releases can do for a system (DKC for SNES, Mortal Kombat for Genesis, though there are more). 95-96 SNES seems especially good.

Chrono Trigger too. It sold 2m+ in Japan.

 

[allan-bh]

It was impressive what Tom Kalinske and his team at Sega of America managed to do. The japaneses had their merits for making good software, but the way Sega of America agressively and creatively conducted the bussiness was top notch. They broke a virtual monopoly of Nintendo and became market leader for a few years.

 

[Celine]

Worth also noting that Nintendo kept shipping SNES/SFC units through 2001 managing a total of 17.18 in Japan and 32.06m outside Japan . I'm not entirely sure but I believe Sega stopped MD/Gen shipments after 1996 (along with GG, MCD, etc as a corporate refocusing on Saturn) but they continued sublicensing the platform for manufacture overseas by TecToy, Majesco and possibly others.

MD/Gen had shipped 28.54M units in total by March 1996.
The final MD/Gen cumulative shipment by Sega stood at 30.75M units.
After March 1996 Sega stopped shipping MD consoles in Japan but continued for abroad markets.

 

[Kano]

This trend of SEGA being far more popular in the west compared to Japan, even relatively speaking, continues today with some brands like Sonic being non-existent in Japan.

On the other hand, SEGA brands that aren't heavily associated with Mega Drive nostalgia tend to perform significantly better in Japan, with IPs like Yakuza or Phantasy Star Online. Not to count the numerous mobile games. I find that interesting.

 

[Josh5890]

It's hard to explain just how big a deal DKC was. It legitimately looked better than some early PS1 and Saturn games and fooled people into thinking SNES was capable of hanging around.

When the Stamper brothers first showed off the game, there were people at Nintendo that didn't believe it was an SNES game!

 

[ILikeFeet]

the schoolyard wars never ended

 

[SurfSync]

It's hard to explain just how big a deal DKC was. It legitimately looked better than some early PS1 and Saturn games and fooled people into thinking SNES was capable of hanging around.

This. DKC still looks pretty good on CRTs to this day IMO.

 

[Theorymon]

I'm curious, did Sega ever release numbers for stuff like the Tectoy versions of their consoles? I can't imagine that making a huge difference, but the nerd inside me is curious about how those compare to the really late 2000s era Super Famicom sales. Granted, if Sega didn't even manufacture them, I guess we'd have to see if Tectoy and others have them somewhere.

 

[allan-bh]

I'm curious, did Sega ever release numbers for stuff like the Tectoy versions of their consoles? I can't imagine that making a huge difference, but the nerd inside me is curious about how those compare to the really late 2000s era Super Famicom sales. Granted, if Sega didn't even manufacture them, I guess we'd have to see if Tectoy and others have them somewhere.

In 2015 the chairman of Tectoy said that more than 5 million Master System and more than 3 million Mega Drive/Genesis were sold by the company.

Interview: Stefano Arnhold (Tec Toy) – Sega-16

www.sega-16.com

 

[Celine]

In 2015 the chairman of Tectoy said that more than 5 million Master System and more than 3 million Mega Drive/Genesis were sold by the company.

Interview: Stefano Arnhold (Tec Toy) – Sega-16

www.sega-16.com

BUMP

I was looking at the wiki (en) article on the Master System and saw the author(s) reported sales of 8 million units in Brazil (by early 2016) which I found very strange since TecToy president confirmed total sales of 5 million units for MS and 3 million for Mega Drive as September 2015 as per the interview you linked (https://www.sega-16.com/2015/11/interview-stefano-arnhold-tectoy/). What I think happened is that the brazilian article which is sourced mistakenly has taken the sum MD+MS as the total amount for MS only.

The whole TecToy MS and MD sales are counfusing in itself since at a certain point TecToy started to use SoC (no different from other retro plug&play mini consoles) which little had to do with the original hardware. For reference on how much could be 'inflated', MD total sales in Brazil by TecToy was at 1.2 million at the end of 2001. https://web.archive.org/web/20180622005129/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-90685296.html

 

[fiendcode]

MD/Gen had shipped 28.54M units in total by March 1996.
The final MD/Gen cumulative shipment by Sega stood at 30.75M units.
After March 1996 Sega stopped shipping MD consoles in Japan but continued for abroad markets.

I'm just going to assume that's a million Nomads, lol.

I do often wonder how unique variants like Nomad, CDX, Megajet and others stacked up.

 

[SergioPL]

In the USA, it’s correct to say that the Genesis outsold the SNES in 91 and 92?
But not anymore forward?

 

[IronTed]

In the USA, it’s correct to say that the Genesis outsold the SNES in 91 and 92?
But not anymore forward?

Old sell-through estimates are worthless so it's hard to say with absolute certainty, but given the non-consolidated shipment numbers that were dug up by Celine and others at the old old place, it seems that the Genesis likely sold more than the SNES in 93-94 and the reverse held true in other years.

 

[Celine]

In the USA, it’s correct to say that the Genesis outsold the SNES in 91 and 92?
But not anymore forward?

No, for what they are worth (take with a grain of salt) old sell-through for US market estimates (NPD) put ahead SNES for '91 and '92 and parity between the two in '93.
Only combining Genesis with Sega CD, Sega would be ahead in '93.
The even out of the field for the 16 bit consoles in '93 meant both side could do the appropriate PR spins as needed to claim some sort of 'victory'.
In the 8 bit (dwindling around those years) and portable (in general lower revenue due to lower average price point for hardware and software) categories Nintendo was well ahead of everybody else.
Overall (HW+SW revenue) Nintendo had a marketshare of 54% in '93 and 70% in '92.

 

[SergioPL]

Thanks for the explanation.
I always think it’s hard to the Snes beating the Genesis in 91, because the only 5 months on the market from the first.
And 92, there’s Sonic 2 for the Genesis.

 

[Man God]

Didn't DKC mean SNES easily won the US in 1994?

 

[IrishNerdLife]

Didn't DKC mean SNES easily won the US in 1994?

Sega did release two mainline Sonic games throughout 1994, Sonic 3 and Knuckles, that included some pretty large tie in promotion. Not to mention strong reoccurring sales from their sport lines. DKC was no doubt huge, but Sega had counterbalance throughout the year as a whole.

It's actually amazing how close things were in general outside of Japan.

 

[BTB123]

Worth also noting that Nintendo kept shipping SNES/SFC units through 2001 managing a total of 17.18 in Japan and 32.06m outside Japan . I'm not entirely sure but I believe Sega stopped MD/Gen shipments after 1996 (along with GG, MCD, etc as a corporate refocusing on Saturn) but they continued sublicensing the platform for manufacture overseas by TecToy, Majesco and possibly others.

These nunbers don't seem to be entirely accurate, as the WW total is at 49.1M and not 49.24M.

 

[fiendcode]

These nunbers don't seem to be entirely accurate, as the WW total is at 49.1M and not 49.24M.

Yeah, I think I figured it out. I got those figures adding up old annual shipment figures but didn't realize some units were returned in later years in the Americas in 2002 and 2003 (under 100k each year).

 

[Roger Rabbit]

I get that the N64 failed in other ways besides console sales, and the Megadrive succeeded in some of those ways. But I think it must surprise the casual observer how close the lifetime sales of the Megadrive/Genesis are to those of the Nintendo 64, considering that the former is hailed as a success and the latter is derided as a failure.