In less than a year, the Nintendo Switch is set to surpass the Wii U's lifetime sales

Unsurprisingly, Nintendo Switch sales are expected to pass those of Nintendo's previous console, the Wii U, and it's happening a lot faster than even Nintendo thought it would.

In its most recent earnings report, Nintendo revealed that it has sold 7.6 million Switch units worldwide since its release in March, and set a new sales forecast for the end of the fiscal year (April 217 to March 2018): 14 million.

Combined with the 3 million Switch sales Nintendo made in March of this year, that makes an expected total sales number of 17 million in one year and one month of the Switch's lifespan.

Meanwhile, the Wii U sold a total 13.5 million units between 2012 and the end of its life in early 2017.

The Switch is running circles around the Wii U.

In an earnings report from earlier in the year, Nintendo set its Switch sales forecast for the fiscal year at 10 million, but a combination of a steady stream of great game releases and a superior advertising campaign compared to the Wii U's has pushed the console beyond the company's initial expectations.

The Wii U's sales were marred by Nintendo's failure to properly explain what exactly the Wii U was in advertisements, picking a name that confused people into thinking it was an add-on to the existing Wii console. The Wii U also didn't see the kind of software selections that the Switch has been seeing, which includes over 200 games just seven months after its release.

Nintendo revealed the top two games sold for the Switch: The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe at 4.7 million and 4.4 million respectively. With Super Mario Odyssey and more games to come, the Switch's success isn't going to slow down any time soon.