While the Nintendo Switch 2 has been quite successful in terms of hardware sales since its launch in June 2025, a new report indicates that the console has hit a stumbling block during Christmas. According to The Game Business, US sales of the Switch 2 compared to the original Switch during 2017’s Holiday season have fallen by 35 percent. These figures take the November and December periods of consoles’ launch years into account.
Regions outside the US haven’t fared much better. The UK, for instance, saw the Switch 2’s sales being 16 percent lower than those of the Switch for the last eight weeks of their respective launch years. Curiously, the original Switch seems to have sold quite well in 2025, with UK sales for Nintendo consoles overall in November and December 2025 are 7 percent higher compared to the same time period in 2017. Generally speaking, the Switch 2 throughout 2025 has sold 6 percent more units than the original Switch did in its launch year.
France was seemingly the hardest hit during this period, with sales of the Switch 2 being down by “over 30 percent” when compared to its predecessor during its launch year. However, the region is considered an outlier when taking Nintendo’s performance for the entire year into account.
The Japanese market similarly saw Switch 2 sales lagging behind the original Switch from its launch year. However, the difference in sales was only 5.5 percent, with the newer console having sold 1.32 million units in the country compared to the Switch’s 1.39 million from 2017. Taking the entire year into account, the Switch 2 did quite well in Japan, with the console grabbing an 11 percent lead over its predecessor during its launch year.
The reason behind the Switch 2’s success in Japan, especially when compared to western markets, is speculated as being the strong presence of Japanese games on the console with titles like Kirby Air Riders. Along with this, the availability of a Japan-only version of the console sold at a lower price point (around $335) also likely played a major role.
Addressing these low sales figures in western markets, a senior Nintendo employee cited a “complicated economic landscape,” as well as “the absence of a major Western game” during the period as the reasons behind Switch 2’s launch-year Christmas season seeing this slump in sales.
Generally, however, the employee also noted that Nintendo was happy with the sales. This indicates that the company has been hitting its internal projections despite the sales slump it hit towards the end of the year. While far from official confirmation, this could even indicate that customers were more willing to buy Switch 2 consoles throughout the year rather than to wait for the Christmas shopping season.
This should come as no surprise as Nintendo had confirmed during its financial reports back in November that it had already sold more than 10 million units of the Switch 2. This, in turn, had led the company to raise its sales forecasts for the console.
