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Forums - Sales - Switch 2 First Holiday Sales vs Switch 1 - Chris Dring

Zippy6 3 days ago

Some information from Chris Dring in a new article here which I'll summarise: https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/nintendo-switch-2-sales-stumble-over

- Switch 2 USA Nov+Dec sales 35% less than Switch 1 in 2017.

- In the UK Switch 2 sales in the last 8 weeks were 16% lower than the Switch 1 in 2017.

- In France Switch 2 sales for 2025 were 30% lower than Switch 1 in 2017 (Full year)

- UK sales higher than France sales (unusual for Nintendo)

- In Japan Switch 2 sales were 5.5% lower for the last 9 weeks of the year compared to Switch 1 in 2017.

- Full year sales in Japan were 11% higher than Switch 1 in 2017.

A slow holiday but it's still far ahead of the Switch 1 after exceptional launch sales. The question is whether it recovers some momentum soon or if this slow patch will continue.



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trunkswd 3 days ago

Circana'a Mat Piscatella has posted on Bluesky stating the December data from Chris is not Circana data. So not sure where Chris got that data from. I would wait for Circana's December report on January 22 for the US data.

https://bsky.app/profile/matpiscatella.bsky.social/post/3mbwgesbprk24

UK 2025 sales for the Switch 2 are higher than Switch 1 in 2017 even with it behind during the holidays. Switch 2 UK sales should be ~740K in 2025. 

Last edited by trunkswd - 3 days ago

VGChartz Sales Analyst and Writer - William D'Angelo - I stream on Twitch and have my own YouTube channel discussing gaming sales and news. Follow me on Bluesky.

I post and adjust the VGChartz hardware estimates, with help from Machina.

Writer of the Sales Comparison | Monthly Hardware Breakdown | Monthly Sales Analysis | Marketshare Features, as well as daily news on the Video Game Industry.

Zippy6 3 days ago
trunkswd said:

Circana'a Mat Piscatella has posted on Bluesky stating the December data from Chris is not Circana data. So not sure where Chris got that data from. I would wait for Circana's December report on January 22 for the US data.

Could be a second Chris Dring screw up just after the last one lol.



IcaroRibeiro 3 days ago

Switch had supply issues before the holidays in 2017?

Switch 2 stock was readily available even before the holidays, so maybe it's a case of sales being more spread out instead of concentrated in the holidays



tak13 3 days ago

Extremely extraordinary to have sold more in then UK than in France. What would be the cause? Let me remind that for instance wii u sold almost a million in france, while in the uk just 600k. As for USA numbers, that's normal. 299$ vs 449$ launch price.



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IcaroRibeiro 3 days ago
tak13 said:

Extremely extraordinary to have sold more in then UK than in France. What would be the cause? Let me remind that for instance wii u sold almost a million in france, while in the uk just 600k. As for USA numbers, that's normal. 299$ vs 449$ launch price.

I'd say strong competition with PS5. PS5 had great deals, good enough to make people delay a Switch 2 purchase to get a PS5 since it was pretty cheap at that time 



firebush03 3 days ago

Those JP figures don’t match Famitsu… what’s up with that? Maybe if you compare the NS2’s last 9wks against NS1’s last 10wks, but not 9-on-9. Also, CY comparisons are a bit sketchy given that Switch 1 had an entire quarter extra on Switch 2.



tak13 3 days ago
IcaroRibeiro said:
tak13 said:

Extremely extraordinary to have sold more in then UK than in France. What would be the cause? Let me remind that for instance wii u sold almost a million in france, while in the uk just 600k. As for USA numbers, that's normal. 299$ vs 449$ launch price.

I'd say strong competition with PS5. PS5 had great deals, good enough to make people delay a Switch 2 purchase to get a PS5 since it was pretty cheap at that time 

ohhhhhh, I had forgotten that. Bingo.

That is to say,It was overshadowed.

Was the deal 399 or 359 euros?



Wman1996 3 days ago

I only think slow patches will be significant if Switch 2 is increased in price, especially in the USA.
There is a chance in the USA that Switch 2 will sell less in 2026 than 2025 despite having a full year this time. But globally, little chance 2026 will be worse.



Lifetime Sales Predictions 

Switch: 161 million (was 73 million, then 96 million, then 113 million, then 125 million, then 144 million, then 151 million, then 156 million)

PS5: 122 million (was 105 million, then 115 million) Xbox Series X/S: 38 million (was 60 million, then 67 million, then 57 million. then 48 million. then 40 million)

Switch 2: 120 million (was 116 million)

PS4: 120 mil (was 100 then 130 million, then 122 million) Xbox One: 51 mil (was 50 then 55 mil)

3DS: 75.5 mil (was 73, then 77 million)

"Let go your earthly tether, enter the void, empty and become wind." - Guru Laghima

Zippy6 3 days ago
tak13 said:
IcaroRibeiro said:

I'd say strong competition with PS5. PS5 had great deals, good enough to make people delay a Switch 2 purchase to get a PS5 since it was pretty cheap at that time 

ohhhhhh, I had forgotten that. Bingo.

That is to say,It was overshadowed.

Was the deal 399 or 359 euros?

It doesn't really explain the UK Vs France thing though because UK also had similarly huge PS5 discounts. I believe both EU and UK got the same 30% off. Was down to around £295 in the UK for digital slim.

Not sure what is putting UK ahead of France. Maybe France is more sensitive to the higher price of Switch 2? Dunno.