Nintendo Switch 2 sales are reportedly slower than expected, and the company is reportedly scaling back hardware production in the US.
A Bloomberg report claims that Nintendo will cut Switch 2 production by more than 30% due to weak US sales. It is claimed that the hardware manufacturer will only make four million units, down from six million in the previous quarter.
Nintendo Co Ltd share prices have been in decline since December 2025. The company’s shares currently trade at 8,984 JPY, down 31.42% over the last six months. Q1 2026 for the company has been a far cry from the 14,105 JPY peak it achieved in November last year.
Despite this apparent lull, it is claimed that the Switch 2 continues to outsell the original Switch by 45%. VGChartz alleges that the Switch 2 sold 811,435 units globally compared to the OG console’s 194,736.
Lifetime Switch 2 sales currently stand at 17.37 million units, according to Nintendo. The console was released on June 5, 2025, and has steadily sold worldwide. It appears the initial hype window could be dying down in the US, which could mean slower sales ahead.
Why are Nintendo Switch 2 sales in decline?
Nintendo is reportedly making just 4 million units instead of the previous 6 million, likely due to a slower release schedule. It’s important to remember that Q4 tends to be the big holiday season, when the bulk of developers and publishers save their games for, unlike the quieter Q1 and Q2 periods.
There’s no accounting for taste, but it’s fair to say that the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 games are far from system sellers. Incoming exclusives include Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, with the bulk of the Spring and Summer window being multi-platform releases.
Without all-star software, the Switch 2 will not succeed against its competition. The hardware is more powerful than its 2017 predecessor, but you’re still (largely) getting an inferior experience to what’s possible from Xbox Series X, PS5, and a moderately powerful PC.
There are only a handful of exclusive Nintendo Switch 2 games at present. We’re still waiting on a confirmed release date for FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods, with the majority of Switch 2 games being ports or upgraded versions. Hardware could ramp up when there’s the software to justify doing so.
