Japan's Switch 2 Sales Drop After Pre-Hike Surge

Nintendo's first week of higher Switch 2 pricing in Japan was followed by a sharp slowdown in hardware sales, according to the latest Famitsu figures. The Nintendo Switch 2 sold 31,751 units during the May 25 to 31, 2026, reporting period, down 87% from 247,880 units the previous week. The decline came after Nintendo raised the price of the Japan-only region-locked model from ¥49,980 (~$312) to ¥59,980 (~$375) on May 25. 

Similar price increases are scheduled for Canada, the United States, and Europe on September 1, 2026.

Nintendo Switch 2 Sales Surge Before Price Hike, Then Fall Sharply

The latest figures suggest the weeks before the increase were boosted by consumers purchasing the console ahead of the higher price. Switch 2 sales reached 214,438 units, 217,922 units, and 247,880 units during the three weeks leading up to May 25.

Before Nintendo announced the price adjustment, weekly sales were far lower at 52,058, 44,280, and 45,825 units. While the latest total remains enough to keep Switch 2 at the top of Japan's hardware chart, it also fell below those pre-announcement levels.

Nintendo has attributed the price increase to rising costs. The sixth and current president of Nintendo, Shuntaro Furukawa, stated that higher memory and component prices, foreign exchange trends, and oil prices are expected to continue over the medium to long term. He added that keeping hardware prices unchanged would have "significantly harm[ed] hardware profitability," leading the company to pass part of those costs on to consumers.

Original Switch Sales Also Decline

The impact extended beyond Nintendo's newest console. The original Switch sold only 229 units last week after recording weekly sales between 2,731 and 7,960 units across the previous six weeks.

It was also outsold by the Xbox Series X.

Switch 2's lifetime sales in Japan now stand at 5,865,213 units. The PlayStation 5 Digital Edition finished second in weekly hardware sales with 6,527 units, followed by the Switch OLED model with 4,162 units.

Japan's performance now offers an early indication of how buyers may respond when Switch 2 price increases reach Western markets later this year.

Nintendo Software Continues to Lead Despite Hardware Slowdown

While hardware demand weakened, Nintendo maintained a strong presence in Japan's software charts. Tomodachi Collection: Wakuwaku Seikatsu remained the week's best-selling game with 52,483 copies sold. Pokémon Pokopia followed in third place with 14,122 copies, while Yoshi and the Mysterious Book (also known in community circles as Yoshi's Mysterious Encyclopedia) ranked fourth with 12,701 copies. Mario Kart World also secured a top-10 position with 5,865 copies sold.

The week's software chart also featured notable new releases. 007 First Light debuted at No. 2 with 20,690 copies sold, while Utawarerumono entered at No. 5 with 6,225 copies. The rankings suggest that software sales remained active across multiple platforms during the same period that Switch 2 hardware sales experienced a post-price-hike slowdown.