ANALYSIS: Nintendo Switch 2 sales remain well ahead of Switch 1, despite a softer first Christmas in some markets
At 17 million shipped, Switch 2 remains the fastest-selling console in history
Nintendo Switch 2’s phenomenal sales pace continued during its most recent reporting period, with the console now standing at 17.37 million units sold-in during its first 7 months on sale.
That means Switch 2, which launched with plentiful stock, has sold-in nearly 10 million units more than the original Switch managed during the same timeframe, launch-aligned, and 7 million more than PS5 and PS4, making it comfortably the fastest-selling console launch (though Switch 1 launched earlier in the year, and PlayStation consoles later).
During its most recent earnings period, covering the three months to December 31, 2025, Switch 2 sold-in around 7.01 million units. That’s actually slightly less than Switch 1 managed during its first holiday sales period (7.2 million), due to softer sales in some Western markets.
As expected, compared to Switch 1’s first Christmas, sales of Switch 2 were up in Japan (1.77m vs. 2.43m), but slightly lower in the US (2.82m vs. 2.3m) and the rest of the world (2.64m vs. 2.27m).
This has been attributed to the Switch 2’s higher price compared to its predecessor, along with plentiful stock and high demand, which allowed many consumers to purchase a console earlier in the year. By its first Christmas, Switch 1 also had original Legend of Zelda and 3D Mario games on the market.
Notably, Japan was one market that did experience stock shortages for Switch 2 earlier this year. Despite this, 27.5% of Switch 2’s hardware sales (4.78 million) have come from Nintendo‘s home market.
Nintendo Switch 2 has already surpassed the lifetime sales of Wii U (13.56 million), and will likely beat Nintendo GameCube (21.74 million) before the summer.
Nintendo expects Switch 2 to sell-in 19 million units by the end of its current fiscal year, which runs until April 1, but it’s highly likely it will surpass this number. The original Switch took two years to clear 20 million annual sales in a single fiscal year, and three to clear 21 million.
However, some market analysts are concerned that the impact of tariffs, increased memory costs, and broader macroeconomic conditions could force Nintendo to raise Switch 2’s price in the near future.
“Despite some investors having spread FUD over the last few weeks, it turns out people are still buying the Switch 2,” Dr Serkan Toto, CEO of Japanese games industry consultancy firm Kantan Games, told VGC.
“If Nintendo supplied Japan with enough devices throughout 2025, they could most probably have come close to 20 million units sold. What is amusing is that the company kept its forecast of 19 million units sold for the fiscal year intact, despite the number being at 17.37 million already. This continues Nintendo’s long stretch of lowballing estimates.”
In its latest earnings results covering up to December 31, 2025, Nintendo Switch 2’s best-selling title remained the launch title Mario Kart World, which recorded sales of 14.03 million units, including hardware bundles – an 80% attach rate.
That means Mario Kart World has virtually doubled what its predecessor, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, managed during the same time frame (7.33 million). Deluxe went on to sell more than 70 million units on Nintendo Switch.
Donkey Kong Bananza, released in July, has now sold 4.25 million units, and Kirby Air Riders, released in November, sold 1.76 million units. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, released in December, is not mentioned in the latest earnings results, suggesting that it didn’t clear one million units before the end of the month.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A– Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, released in October, sold 3.89 million units of the packaged Switch 2 version. Digital sales of this title are counted towards Switch 2 sales, so the actual figure will be much higher.
Looking ahead, Switch 2’s first-party software line-up includes Mario Tennis Fever in February and Pokémon Pokopia in March. A Switch 2 Edition of Super Mario Bros. Wonder will arrive the same month, followed by Yoshi and the Mysterious Book in Spring. Further ahead, Nintendo plans to release new Fire Emblem and Splatoon games this year, along with Switch 1 titles like Pokémon Champions and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream.
During the three-month period, Nintendo sold some 1.36 million units of the original Switch console, bringing the total number of consoles sold to date to 155.37 million units and making it the company’s best-selling console ever, beating Nintendo DS (154.02 million).
