Switch 2 approaches 20 million sold as Nintendo lowers its next-year forecast

Nintendo’s latest financial results show just how quickly Switch 2 has built its install base. The system has now sold 19.86 million units, beating Nintendo’s revised 19 million forecast and putting it well ahead of the original Switch at the same stage of its life. However, Nintendo is also lowering its forecast for the next fiscal year, expecting 16.5 million Switch 2 hardware sales in FY27. That is still a massive number, but it signals that launch-year demand was unusually concentrated and that price increases may now become a drag. For players, the headline is that Switch 2 is already a major platform, not a slow-burn successor. That matters for third-party confidence, eShop activity and the long-term health of its software library. For investors, the bigger question is whether the price hike slows momentum in the US, Europe and Canada. Nintendo’s strategy now looks like a balancing act: protect margins in a tough component market while keeping the install base large enough to support big games such as Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, Star Fox, Splatoon Raiders, Fire Emblem and Pokémon Winds & Waves.