Nintendo said during its latest quarterly earnings call last week that it expects Switch 2 sales to reach 15 million units this fiscal year when it launches next month. Industry analysts and investors called the company’s forecasts conservative given the high demand for hybrid consoles. However, Nintendo said its sales forecast was lower than expected, reflecting the higher price of the Nintendo Switch 2. The company also clarified that U.S. tariffs announced last month had not affected its forecasts.
Switch 2 price a factor in sales forecasts
Last week, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said during an investor Q&A on Tuesday after the company released its financial results for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2025, that Switch 2 sales forecasts aim to reach the same sales levels that the original Switch achieved within 10 months of its March 2017 launch.
“The price of the Nintendo Switch 2 is relatively high compared to the Nintendo Switch, so we recognize that there are corresponding challenges with early adoption,” Furukawa explained in response to a query about Nintendo’s conservative estimate of Switch 2 sales. “That being said, Nintendo Switch 2 can run compatible Nintendo Switch software, so there is continuity between platforms. We are taking steps such as bundling software with hardware to accelerate adoption in the first fiscal year, with the goal of getting off to the same start as Nintendo Switch.”
U.S. tariffs not affecting forecasts
While Nintendo was forced to postpone Switch 2 pre-orders in the U.S. last month after President Donald Trump announced widespread tariffs on imports from multiple countries, Furukawa claimed that the company’s forecasts were not affected by the trade situation.
“Constraints on our hardware production capacity are not factors in setting sales forecasts. In addition, the tariff situation in the United States or the possibility of an economic recession do not affect our sales forecasts,” the Nintendo president said.
“In order to achieve sales of 15 million units, we need to produce higher quantities of hardware. Our first goal is to start the same as Nintendo Switch, and we are working hard to strengthen our production capabilities so that we can flexibly respond to demand,” he added.
Nintendo Switch 2 Requirements
Despite being more expensive than its predecessor (the Nintendo Switch 2 starts at $449.99 in the U.S.), the upcoming console is in high demand in the U.S. and its home market of Japan. Nintendo said that its official online store in Japan alone received 2.2 million applications for the Switch 2 lottery, far exceeding its expectations. In fact, Furukawa said that a significant number of applicants will not be selected due to the high demand for the console.
In the United States, pre-orders for the console sold out quickly at retailers. The Switch 2 is expected to be the biggest console launch in history, and its higher price isn’t stopping eager fans.
Furukawa acknowledged the strong response to the Switch 2 during the Q&A, but said it would be difficult to maintain strong sales after the launch period.
“We recognize the positive feedback from the Nintendo Switch 2 experience event and the random draw of pre-order sample applications on the My Nintendo Store in Japan. But the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware is relatively high compared to the Nintendo Switch, so even if there is momentum at launch, we know it will not be easy to maintain this momentum long-term during the holiday period and beyond.
“Even before we held Nintendo Switch 2 experience events and started the My Nintendo Store app, we have been working hard to increase Nintendo Switch 2 hardware production. Our sales forecasts are not based on any production capacity constraints.”
Mario Kart World will also be available as part of a Switch 2 bundle
Photo credit: Nintendo
In addition to hardware sales, the executive also revealed Nintendo’s software sales forecast, confirming that the company’s software sales forecast of 45 million units does not include the Mario Kart World device included in the Nintendo Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle.
“When we take into account the software units bundled with the hardware, the forecast exceeds the approximately 52 million units sold by Nintendo Switch in the 10 months after launch,” he said.
Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch in select markets on June 5. The device marks Nintendo’s first video game system in eight years, since the original Switch launched in 2017.
