A record-setting launch year

The Nintendo Switch 2 has had a blistering debut. The console shipped 19.86 million units as of March 2026, the end of its first fiscal year, outpacing the PlayStation 5's comparable launch trajectory. For context, the original Switch had reached 155.92 million lifetime shipments by the same period, so the successor is off to a fast start on the long climb toward those numbers.

Built on NVIDIA's Ampere-generation silicon, the Switch 2 delivered the generational leap Nintendo fans had waited years for, and demand out of the gate was strong enough to keep supply tight across major markets.

Then came the price increase

The momentum hit a speed bump. A 2026 Switch 2 price increase reportedly triggered a sharp sales drop in its home market, with third-party trackers citing an estimated 87 percent month-over-month decline in Japanese hardware sales following the hike. That figure comes from sales-tracking estimates rather than official Nintendo data, so it is best read as directional.

The increase itself reflects 2026's harsh cost environment:

The memory shortage inflating component costs across the industry.
Tariff and currency pressures squeezing hardware margins.
A rare willingness from Nintendo to raise prices mid-generation rather than absorb the hit.

Momentum meets macroeconomics

The tension in the Switch 2 story is what makes it interesting. On one hand, Nintendo has a genuine hit outpacing Sony's record-setting console. On the other, the same forces reshaping the entire hardware market forced a price move that landed hardest at home. The global picture remains strong, and a robust software lineup continues to pull hardware, but the Japanese dip is a reminder that even a runaway success is not immune to 2026's cost pressures.

The reliable figure to anchor on is the 19.86 million shipment number. The sharper claims about outselling the PS5 and the scale of the Japanese decline come from third-party trackers, and the exact new retail price should be confirmed before quoting a specific figure. Either way, year one belongs to Nintendo.