Nintendo Switch 2 quarterly sales fall 41% after price rise

Nintendo Switch 2 hardware sales fell 41.2% year on year in the July-to-September quarter, according to the company’s results published on 5 November. Nintendo sold 2.67 million consoles during the period, down from 4.54 million a year earlier.

The decline came as the console’s official UK price rose from £395.99 to £419.99 on 1 September. That means only one month of the quarter covered the higher UK and European price, while Japan’s increase had taken effect earlier, on 25 May.

Six-month sales also fell

For the six months ended 30 September, Switch 2 hardware sales totalled 6.49 million units, down 37.4% from 10.36 million in the comparable period. Nintendo said overall dedicated video-game-platform sales fell 15.3% to ¥903.3bn, primarily because of lower hardware unit sales.

Nintendo has not cut its full-year Switch 2 forecast, retaining a target of 16.5 million units for the financial year ending 31 March 2027. That would be 16.9% below the 19.86 million sold in the previous financial year.

The company has linked its expected second-year decline to both the unusually strong launch year and its price revisions. Its results do not establish that higher prices alone caused the fall, and Nintendo said it did not see as significant a change in sales trends outside Japan around the September adjustment.

Software is holding up better

Software sales have moved in the opposite direction. Switch 2 software reached 24.49 million units in the six-month period, up 18.8% year on year, and Nintendo expects 60 million Switch 2 games to sell across the full financial year.

Nintendo highlighted new releases including Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, which sold 8.81 million units, while Pokémon Pokopia passed four million global sell-through sales in its first five weeks.

The company’s release schedule includes Nintendo Switch Sports Resort on 12 November and Metroid Ravenous on 28 January 2027. Regional release dates can vary.

What it means for UK buyers

For anyone considering a Switch 2 before Christmas, the official console price is now £419.99 — £24 above its June 2025 launch price. That is also substantially above the original Switch’s £279.99 UK launch price in 2017.

Nintendo still has a sizeable installed base, with cumulative Switch 2 hardware sales reaching 26.35 million units by 30 September. But with hardware demand cooling, forthcoming games and the strength of the software catalogue will matter more in persuading buyers that the higher entry price is worthwhile.