As Nintendo Switch 2 Nears 20 Million Units Sold, The Company Expects Sales To Decline Next Fiscal Year
Overview & Key Takeaways
Nintendo has released its latest financial report for Fiscal Year 2026, revealing that it has sold through nearly 20 million Switch 2 units. Despite what Nintendo calls a launch year where "sales reached a level we had not experienced with any of our previous hardware systems" (due to high interest in the Switch console), it expects a decline in year-over-year sales for Fiscal Year 2027, which ends in March of next year.
Officially, 19.86 million Switch 2 units have been sold in the console's first fiscal year, but for its second fiscal year, Nintendo is forecasting 16.5 million units sold. "For our hardware systems to date, sales units have generally tended to be higher in the second fiscal year after launch than in the launch year," the fiscal report notes read. "Nintendo Switch 2, however, launched at a time when many consumers were continuing to enjoy Nintendo Switch. Against this backdrop and amid many other factors [Editor's Note: likely an allusion to rising memory costs resulting from AI buy-up worldwide, alongside tariffs enacted by the U.S. President], launch-year sales reached a level we had not seen with any of our previous hardware systems.
"In light of strong sales performance in the first year following launch and price adjustments, we expect unit sales for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to decline year over year. That said, we view this as a healthy level of sales for Nintendo Switch 2 in its second year after launch, and we continue to anticipate further growth in the installed base."
As you can see, despite the expected decline in Switch 2 sales, Nintendo still views the console's growth as healthy. If you look back at how the Switch performed in a similar time frame, Switch 2 outpaces it. Switch 2 sales have exceeded the fiscal-year sales of the Switch's March 2018 and March 2019 fiscal years, the two full-year periods immediately following the Switch's launch. In other words, the Switch 2 is performing better than the Switch so far.
Elsewhere in the fiscal report, Nintendo has detailed the sales numbers for various games released this fiscal year. They are as follows:
- Mario Kart World: 14.7 million units
- Donkey Kong Bananza: 4.52 million units
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition: 3.94 million units
- Pokémon Pokopia: 2.41 million units
- Kirby Air Riders: 1.87 million units
- Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen: 4 million units
- Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream: 3.8 million units
For more about Nintendo, read Game Informer's reviews for Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Pokémon Pokopia, Kirby Air Riders, and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. After that, read about how The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario World director Takashi Tezuka is retiring from Nintendo in June.
How do you feel about the Switch 2's first year of life? Let us know in the comments below!
Nintendo has released its latest financial report for Fiscal Year 2026, revealing that it has sold through nearly 20 million Switch 2 units. Despite what Nintendo calls a launch year where "sales reached a level we had not experienced with any of our previous hardware systems" (due to high interest in the Switch console), it expects a decline in year-over-year sales for Fiscal Year 2027, which ends in March of next year.
Officially, 19.86 million Switch 2 units have been sold in the console's first fiscal year, but for its second fiscal year, Nintendo is forecasting 16.5 million units sold. "For our hardware systems to date, sales units have generally tended to be higher in the second fiscal year after launch than in the launch year," the fiscal report notes read. "Nintendo Switch 2, however, launched at a time when many consumers were continuing to enjoy Nintendo Switch. Against this backdrop and amid many other factors [Editor's Note: likely an allusion to rising memory costs resulting from AI buy-up worldwide, alongside tariffs enacted by the U.S. President], launch-year sales reached a level we had not seen with any of our previous hardware systems.
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"In light of strong sales performance in the first year following launch and price adjustments, we expect unit sales for the fiscal year ending March 2027 to decline year over year. That said, we view this as a healthy level of sales for Nintendo Switch 2 in its second year after launch, and we continue to anticipate further growth in the installed base."
As you can see, despite the expected decline in Switch 2 sales, Nintendo still views the console's growth as healthy. If you look back at how the Switch performed in a similar time frame, Switch 2 outpaces it. Switch 2 sales have exceeded the fiscal-year sales of the Switch's March 2018 and March 2019 fiscal years, the two full-year periods immediately following the Switch's launch. In other words, the Switch 2 is performing better than the Switch so far.
Elsewhere in the fiscal report, Nintendo has detailed the sales numbers for various games released this fiscal year. They are as follows:
- Mario Kart World: 14.7 million units
- Donkey Kong Bananza: 4.52 million units
- Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition: 3.94 million units
- Pokémon Pokopia: 2.41 million units
- Kirby Air Riders: 1.87 million units
- Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen: 4 million units
- Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream: 3.8 million units
For more about Nintendo, read Game Informer's reviews for Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Pokémon Pokopia, Kirby Air Riders, and Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream. After that, read about how The Legend of Zelda and Super Mario World director Takashi Tezuka is retiring from Nintendo in June.
How do you feel about the Switch 2's first year of life? Let us know in the comments below!
