Nintendo Switch 2 tops Xbox Series S|X and PS5 Digital sales in Japan
Despite considerable supply limitations for the Nintendo Switch 2, the handheld has managed to dominate in its home territory of Japan with over 1 million sales within the first 2 weeks. This puts it comfortably ahead of some variants of the Sony PlayStation 5 in terms of lifetime sales, such as the base model’s Digital edition.
This also means that the console is already significantly more successful than Microsoft’s Series S and X consoles’ lifetime sales combined, which consistently are stuck with a distant 3rd place in Japan’s console wars.
The gaming community's opinion has been divided regarding the Switch 2’s purported upgrades in contrast to the Switch before launch. The Nintendo Switch 2 has a tall order to deliver on when it comes to mimicking the success of its predecessor, but it does seem to be holding its own.
This was possibly helped by Nintendo wanting a direct win in its domestic market: the new console is currently priced at $450 for a unit in the United States, but a cool ¥49,980 (~$343) in Japan for its regional unit, a just-under-16% discount over the former.
While initial reports from last week indicated the Switch 2 had pushed past the 1 million mark in its home territory, we now have confirmation thanks to an article from Japanese video game magazine Famitsu that also publishes similar stats for other consoles in the territory.
The following hardware sales estimates are published on-site (translated with Google Translate):
Nintendo's strong position in Japan is hardly a secret, with the Japanese video game giant holding its own in the territory across all major console releases in the past including the underperforming Wii U console. Microsoft's Xbox console performs abysmally versus both Sony's and Nintendo's offerings in the region thanks to it not having a regional subsidy that rival consoles enjoyed, but one that Sony has scaled back lately with a 20% price hike on the PS5 since September 2024.
Some of Nintendo's success can however be attributed to its larger wholesale margins (5% versus the standard 2%) reportedly being offered to retailers, in addition to backwards compatibility with both previously purchased digital and physical media in addition to older Joy-Cons and Pro controllers.
Worldwide, the Nintendo Switch 2 console has sold an estimated 3.5 million consoles (as of 9th June) as confirmed by Nintendo in a corporate release earlier this month indicating strong global demand and a robust pre-order pipeline.
