Nintendo sells record 3.5 million Switch 2 consoles in four days in boon for games sector

TOKYO - Nintendo sold 3.5 million-plus units of the Switch 2 in just four days, a record-breaking start for the company’s first new console in eight years.

The numbers, released by the company on June 11, bode well for its target to sell 15 million units by March 2026. They also reinforce analysts’ projections that Nintendo may be able to sell far more if it can pump up supply.

Gamers from Tokyo to San Francisco lined up for hours last week to get their hands on one of the most highly anticipated gadgets of 2025. The long-awaited Switch 2 succeeds a global hit in the original Switch, which pioneered a hybrid design that allows play both at home on a TV and on the move. 

The release of the new Switch was regarded as a watershed moment for the industry, steering business decisions by partners and competitors for years to come.

At a time of thinning margins and exploding development budgets, a popular new console may galvanise the sector and provide a counterbalance to the increasing dominance of a handful of marquee, live-service games. 

Catching up with runaway demand

is the first major challenge Nintendo now faces.

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has apologised after customers came away from lotteries for the Switch 2 empty-handed.

The company has asked its partners to speed up production of the console. It has also secured agreements from Japanese online marketplace operators such as Rakuten Group, Mercari and LY Corp to discourage resellers from taking advantage of the hardware’s scarcity.

Switch 2 is manufactured mainly in China by partners including Foxconn Technology Group.

Nintendo’s shares, which have gyrated because of concerns about how tariffs may disrupt supply, were down more than 3 per cent on June 11.

“The pace is good,” said Toyo Securities analyst Hideki Yasuda. “The key will be to maintain assembly capacity and increase production going forward.”

A chronic shortage may spur consumers to turn elsewhere and flatten momentum.

Nintendo’s priority is to sustain launch momentum for as long as possible, Mr Furukawa told analysts at an earnings briefing in May.

That is more difficult due to the Switch 2’s higher retail price compared with its predecessor and growing weakness in the global economy.

Mr Furukawa has also warned the company may consider raising the console’s price in the future,

depending on US President Donald Trump’s tariff measures.

Bloomberg Intelligence technology analyst Nathan Naidu said Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft could be more affected than other game makers by tariffs because they also have hardware businesses.

“Prices for the Nintendo Switch 2 could still be hiked by 7 per cent to 8 per cent for US buyers – 30 per cent in our worst scenario – despite the 90-day tariff ‘truce’, our scenario shows, given the high US duties on the main production countries,” said Mr Naidu. BLOOMBERG