Nintendo warns of rising costs as Switch 2 sales slow
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Nintendo has flagged fresh cost pressures alongside its previously reported Switch 2 sales slowdown, warning that rising memory component prices and tariffs will hit costs by roughly 100 billion yen ($633 million). The console's sales fell 34.4% year-on-year to 3.82 million units last quarter, though Nintendo says it remains unconcerned for now, with new game releases continuing to drive adoption ahead of a planned US price rise from $450 to $500 on 1 September 2026. The full-year forecast stays unchanged at 16.5 million units for the fiscal year ending March 2027.
Total Switch 2 sales now stand at 23.68 million, already surpassing the original Switch, after Nintendo sold a record 19.86 million units last year. Despite the console slowdown, Nintendo beat revenue expectations thanks to strong software sales — led by Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream (7.96 million copies), Pokémon Pokopia, Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bonanza — plus around $300 million in US tariff refunds. The company also highlighted that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has now grossed over $1 billion globally since its April release, the second-highest total ever for a video game film.
- Switch 2 quarterly sales fell 34.4% year-on-year to 3.82 million units
- New: rising memory and tariff costs to hit Nintendo by $633 million
- Super Mario Galaxy Movie has now grossed over $1 billion worldwide
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Nintendo is the Japanese company behind the Switch games console, and its latest financial results show the follow-up machine, the Switch 2, selling more slowly than before after a huge launch. The firm has also warned that the cost of components such as memory chips, plus US tariffs, will add hundreds of millions of dollars to its expenses.
The Switch 2 launched in 2025 as the successor to the original Switch, one of the best-selling consoles ever, and quickly became a hit in its own right thanks to games such as Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bonanza. Nintendo's results matter because they show how a major games maker is being squeezed by global supply costs and trade tariffs even while its hardware and software continue to sell strongly worldwide.
The company is a bellwether for the wider video games and consumer electronics industry, so its cost warnings and sales figures are watched closely by investors, rival manufacturers and gamers alike, particularly as Nintendo prepares to raise the Switch 2's US price later this year.
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Originally published by Engadget as “Nintendo’s Switch 2 console sales just dropped significantly”.