Nintendo Forecasts 16.5 Million Switch 2 Sales as Prices Rise

# Nintendo Forecasts 16.5 Million Switch 2 Sales as Prices Rise Nintendo forecasts **16.5 million Nintendo Switch 2 hardware sales** for the fiscal year ending March 2027. That figure follows 19.86 million units sold during the console’s first fiscal year, above Nintendo’s initial 15 million forecast and its later 19 million forecast. The new 16.5 million figure is a sales forecast for the system’s second fiscal year. It is not a newly raised 20 million production target. Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the forecast reflects current momentum and the second-year performance of the company’s previous game systems. ## What Nintendo actually reported Nintendo Switch 2 launched in June 2025. According to Nintendo’s May 2026 financial-results briefing, sales reached 19.86 million units by the end of the fiscal year in March 2026. Furukawa described that first-year result as exceptionally high compared with earlier Nintendo hardware launches. For the following fiscal year, Nintendo forecast 16.5 million Switch 2 systems and 60 million units of Switch 2 software. The company said it did not have particular concerns about the console’s sales momentum at the time of the briefing. ## How the 2026 price increase fits in Nintendo separately announced hardware price revisions on May 8, 2026. In the United States, the recommended price rose from $449.99 to $499.99 on September 1. Canada and Europe received their own regional increases, while the price of the Japanese-language system in Japan rose from ¥49,980 to ¥59,980 on May 25. Nintendo said the decision reflected several changes in market conditions rather than one single cause. The company cited rising memory and other component prices, foreign-exchange trends and oil prices as pressures expected to continue over the medium to long term. Furukawa acknowledged that a higher price raises the barrier to purchase for some customers. ## What it means for players The official numbers describe a console entering its second year after a stronger-than-expected launch. The lower annual forecast does not by itself signal a production cut or a loss of confidence: it compares a normal second year with an unusually large launch year. For prospective buyers, the practical change is the regional price increase. Nintendo says its strategy still depends on expanding the installed base and supporting it with software. The company specifically credited Pokémon Pokopia with helping hardware sales and said more Switch 2 titles were planned for the second half of the year. ## Sources - [Nintendo financial-results Q&A, May 8, 2026](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2026/260511e.pdf) - [Nintendo consolidated financial forecast](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/pdf/2026/260508_5e.pdf) - [Nintendo price revision notice](https://www.nintendo.co.jp/corporate/release/en/2026/260508.html)