Nintendo’s Switch 2 was an unmitigated market success for Nintendo following its launch last June, selling a record-setting 3.5 million units worldwide in its first four days and reaching over 10 million shipments in just under four months. But a new report from The Game Business suggests that frenzied initial sales pace may have slowed significantly in many markets during the system’s crucial first holiday season.
The report suggests that US Switch 2 sales were down about 35 percent during November and December compared to sales of the original Switch in the same period in 2017. In the UK, Switch 2 sales were down 16 percent compared to the original Switch during the last eight weeks of the year. And in France, comparative Switch 2 sales were down 30 percent relative to the Switch for the same period, reflecting what The Game Business says is “a slowdown in Switch 2 sales momentum over the Christmas sales window” across “all major European markets.”
The Switch 2’s relative performance was a little better in Japan, where sales for the holiday period declined just 5.5 percent compared to the original Switch. For the full launch year, though, Japanese Switch 2 sales were up 11 percent compared to the Switch launch, thanks perhaps in part to a cheaper Japan-only version of the console that isn’t subject to the vagaries of international currency valuations.
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To be fair, the original Switch’s first holiday season set a high bar for any new Nintendo console to meet. When the Switch proved unexpectedly popular following its March 2017 launch, Nintendo hastily bumped worldwide production by 4 million units to help ameliorate holiday shortages. That helped the first Switch sell 15 million units in its first full year on store shelves, roughly mirroring the initial sales mania for the Nintendo Wii a decade earlier.