Nintendo sold 2.67M Switch 2 units last quarter, down 41%. See the U.S. prices, the 16.5M forecast and what to do before Black Friday.
Nintendo sold 2.67 million Switch 2 consoles between July and September, which CNBC says is 41% fewer than in the same quarter a year earlier. As of Nov. 5, the company says it has no plans to raise the price again, and it is holding its full-year target of 16.5 million consoles. The report landed the same day The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time launched on the system.
How much did Switch 2 sales actually fall?
Quite a bit, though the picture depends on which period you pick. According to IGN, citing CNBC, the 2.67 million units in the July-to-September quarter compare with 3.82 million in the April-to-June quarter. Engadget adds up the six months to Sept. 30 at 6.49 million consoles, a 37.4% drop from the 10.36 million Nintendo sold over the same stretch last year.
Bloomberg reports that operating profit fell 16% to 73.9 billion yen, roughly $467 million, on a 15% decline in sales. Engadget notes that net profit still rose 11% from a year earlier, helped by strong software sales and the Super Mario movie. IGN puts lifetime Switch 2 sales at 26.35 million, which it says still beats the original Switch over the same six quarters after launch.
The year-ago comparison is the hard part. The Switch 2 launched on June 5, 2025, with plenty of stock and became the fastest-selling console ever, so the second year was always going to look weaker next to it.
Is the Switch 2 price going up again?
Not according to Nintendo. Reuters reports, via IGN, that President Shuntaro Furukawa said the company has enough memory chips to reach its forecast of 16.5 million Switch 2 units for the fiscal year ending March 2027 and is not considering further price changes. That forecast is almost 17% below the 19.86 million consoles Nintendo sold in the previous fiscal year, according to Engadget.
The outlets disagree on when the last increase happened. Engadget says Nintendo raised the U.S. price by $50 to $500 in early May, blaming memory costs and tariffs. IGN says the increase came in September. We could not confirm which is right from the earnings coverage alone, so check the date against Nintendo's own announcement if it matters to you. What is clear is that Sony and Microsoft have also raised console prices during what IGN calls the RAMpocalypse.
On Nintendo's U.S. site as of Nov. 5, the Switch 2 plus Mario Kart World bundle is listed at $549.99, and the Switch 2 plus Nintendo Switch Sports Resort bundle at $529.99. Both are shown as manufacturer's suggested prices.
What did people buy on Switch 2 this year?
The software numbers show where the money went. Nintendo's report, as relayed by IGN, lists:
- Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream: 8.81 million
- Rhythm Heaven Groove: 2.89 million
- Splatoon Raiders: 2.42 million
- Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave: 1.34 million
- Star Fox: 1.17 million
Mario Kart World, the launch title, sold another 1.78 million over the two quarters and Nintendo described it as continuing to sell steadily. Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves are confirmed for next year, and IGN says fans are hoping for the next mainline Super Mario game in 2027.
Investors still liked what they saw. IGN reports Nintendo shares rose 8.13% on Thursday after the earnings and the Zelda launch. CNBC quotes Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, saying the Ocarina of Time remake is Nintendo's only real blockbuster this fiscal year and that it is not enough to make investors happy at today's console price.
Should you buy a Switch 2 this holiday season?
If you already know you want one, the earnings do not change much. The company says it is not planning a price rise, which removes one reason to rush. It also gave no sign of a price cut, so waiting for a discount is a gamble. The bundle list prices above are the numbers to compare against whatever Black Friday retailers advertise.
If you are on the fence, the useful question is what you would play. Ocarina of Time is out now and has strong reviews, as we covered in our Metacritic roundup. Past that, the first-party calendar looks thin until 2027, and that gap is exactly what analysts are pointing at.
Our take
A 41% drop sounds alarming, but it is mostly a story about an unusually good launch year and a console that got more expensive. Nothing in the report says people stopped liking the Switch 2. Software is selling, profit held up, and the lifetime total is healthy.
The weak spot is the schedule. One big holiday release for a $500-plus system is a thin pitch, and Nintendo knows it, which is probably why the 2027 lineup matters so much more than this quarter. We would treat the 16.5 million forecast as the number to watch. If the January report keeps it, the holiday quarter did its job. If not, expect questions about price. That last part is our read, not something Nintendo has said.
Related reading
Picture credit: Nintendo
