Switch’s Falling Sales Aren’t Entirely Down To Switch 2 Hype, Says Furukawa – Nintendo Life
GuestGuestLogin | Sign UpNintendo LifeGuestLogin or Sign UpIt was always bound to happenEarlier today, Nintendo released its latest quarterly financial update for FY2025 and the findings were… much as you might expect. Sure, Switch crossed the big 150 million units milestone, but Nintendo also lowered its sales forecast for the second quarter in a row as interest continues to drop.Now, you might assume that the drop in Switch sales is a natural product of Switch 2 anticipation — we officially know that the console is coming this year, after all — but, as Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors shortly after the report was published, you can’t put all the blame on hardware hype (thanks, Eurogamer).As reported by Japanese newspaper The Sankei Shimbun (and translated via Google), Furukawa doesn’t think that Switch 2 rumblings are harming the current Switch’s sales, instead pointing to the declining figures as a product of an ageing console:We don’t think the impact of refraining from purchasing [because of Switch 2] is that great. We think it’s a solid eighth year, but we haven’t reached our target.What’s more, the outlet reports that Furukawa reassured investors that ‘Switch 1’ sales would continue “as long as there is demand”, so don’t expect to see the classic model disappearing from the shelves any time soon.It’s true, the Switch is soon to enter its ninth year on the market, and with 2024’s somewhat subdued release schedule (particularly compared to the year prior), interest and sales numbers were always bound to slip. But the dropoff is bigger than any year previously, and it has been steeper than even Nintendo expected.We can’t help but think that Switch 2 anticipation has a little to do with it. Nintendo’s latest batch of figures only accounts up to the end of December 2024 (before the official Switch 2 reveal), but the hype train has been chugging along for years at this point. Eventually, people are bound to hold off buying while they patiently wait for something new, right?Fortunately, the anticipation can only stick around for a few more months. All eyes on that 2nd April Direct, then.Sobering sales, analyst angst, obvious answerFollowed by a hands-on tourDo you think Switch 2 anticipation is to blame for Switch 1’s falling sales? Let us know in the comments.[source sankei.com, via eurogamer.net]About Jim NormanJim came to Nintendo Life in 2022 and, despite his insistence that The Minish Cap is the best Zelda game and his unwavering love for the Star Wars prequels (yes, really), he has continued to write news and features on the site ever since.Comments 43The switch 1 will keep on selling, even when the switch 2 is out.
For my kids i will still buy another (regular) switch.
My switch oled, i will give to my wife (she plays animal crossing on it) and i will buy the Switch 2.switch 2 sales have been in decline for a few years now..due to oversaturation..If anyone bothered to do their research, they would know the Nintendo Switch is a Pisces, and 2025 is generally just not a good year for Pisces, so the horoscopes say. Of course sales will be down.As long as theres great new software the sales will continue to be strong. But so far this year we’ve had an old port (DK) and the next release (XCX) is also an old port, but once Pokémon Legends ZA and Metroid 4 come out then the sales will pick up again.Oversaturation isn’t actually a thing. It’s a word that betrays folk telling everyone that the market is a fixed pool of people when it’s not. Interest has waned and that can only be expected after 8 years due to the technology gap (especially without a percieved price drop!) Still, 11 million units this year is not a console you will be wanting to retire asap. The PS2 would love to have sold 11 million units in it’s last year (instead of the few thousand.)Nice, I think it is really cool, that Furukawa-San is honest and does not blame the decline in sales on the new hardware hype. Very respectable.Personally, I do not think Nintendo could be more happy with the sales. It was a great era and it is only natural, that sales drop over time. Congratulations for selling 150 million Switches Nintendo!It’s worth asking, who are the people that are on the fence about buying a Switch 1 at this point? Surely not the same people that have been watching the Switch 2 hype train impatiently for years (those all own a Switch 1 already).It can only be all-new customers to the video game market: Kids and their parents.I’ll be surprised if they don’t keep it around longer. I think it’s be a great cheaper handheld if they’d drop the price a bit like they did with the 2ds on the way out.I’d say it’s one factor, but of course there’s also the fact that the Switch is pretty old at this point… and even though it hasn’t reached Nintendo’s target so far again, “4.82 million Switch consoles were sold in the three months from 1st October to 31st December 2024” according to the latest financial results (https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2025/02/nintendo-switch-hardware-sales-pass-150-million-with-ps2s-record-still-a-way-off) which is nothing to sneeze at and even more so considering those factors – Switch is still selling so there’s no good reason for Nintendo to discontinue it anytime soon as others have already mentioned here!@GrailUK I agree. Over saturation is a myth. If Xbox truly throws its weight behind Nintendo, and the Switch 2 can nab big 3rd party support I can see it being the de facto console to own and selling, unironically, 200 million units.@UltimateOtaku91 Lots of people have been looking forward to XCX for years now. I don’t think it’s the typical “old port” situation with that particular game.@johnedwin @johnedwin Console Sales always falls after the 3rd or 4th year. Just look at this year’s PS5. They are also less than the year before@NintendoWife Children who are now old enough to play videos games.It’s also you know…an old system at this point. It’s impressive it sold as much as it did now.2023 had Tears of the Kingdom which single handily sold 20million copies. No game in 2024 matched that draw on Switch. Software is a lot to do with why they missed their targets.Make no mistake though the numbers they’re on for year 8 are still solid.@UltimateOtaku91 I get the old port thing for XCX, theorically. But in practice, people will be so surprised by how good it looks, how big the world is (I think it’s 3 times Skyrim?) and how much content there is. But yeah, Pokémon and maybe Metroid (Switch 1 ver.) will surpass that. We’ll see!I mean, yeah, it’s been nearly 8 years since the Switch released; sales were bound to slow down somewhat by now. Still, 3 million copies of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold in September-December at this point in the game isn’t shabby in the slightest.@Mythra That’s what I meant to say.I’m excited for Switch 2, but I’m starting to think that this might be the first console launch from Nintendo where I wait for a mid-gen refresh especially if it doesn’t launch with an OLED display. I have plenty of games on the back log to hold me over.@RandomNerds I know I’m going to buy it day 1, because it will come with some irresistible games. I wish it would come with a secondary color option – something more colorful.If Nintendo wants to keep Switch 1 sales up they are going to need to keep putting good games on the system. I’m surprised to see them winding down as much as they are. The 3DS seemed to have a longer afterlife.@NintendoWife I am tempted by a deep discount on a Switch lite that I can take on my travels.Why ALL the consoles have not longer lifespan – 10 or even 15 years ? Imagine what technically perfect games u can see in 10th cosole-life years …I could see them squeezing out a few more sales by adding theme park branding to some and selling them at the parks only. Then instead of buying a trinket that doesn’t do anything, you can prove your theme park attendance with a souvenir that will actually get some use (albeit expensive).these sales were pre official announcement so obviously its not, this quarter however different story Switch 2 officially got announced January 16 how will that effect sales? maybe not much in Japan but outside of Japan I expect a big drop in Switch hardware salesI figured it would get to 150 million but I knew chasing the DS and PS2 we’re going to be tall orders without another iteration. If they continue to still produce games and sell Switch 1 during Switch 2’s life, then it could still theoretically sell well for the next 3 years at least, or at least until Nintendo decides to kill it off formally. Maybe it will take a page out of PS2’s playbook and continue selling units for several years. Who knows.@UltimateOtaku91 But those titles will also work on Switch 2, so what console would be people get between the two?@MrCarlos46 Depends when the Switch 2 comes out, these games might release before the Switch especially if it’s got an holiday release.at 8 years old pretty much anyone that was even curious about getting one has one, and in all that time Nintendo still refuses to drop the price. A $50 price drop last year could have given them a bump in sales.@GrailUK exactly. Everyone wants everything all the time. Growth, growth, growth!@premko1 Any electronic devices after 7 – 8 years old are considered outdated. The technology from 7 – 8 years ago was different with current technology.@Anti-Matter Maybe if we are talking utility devices like phones, but consoles are leisurely devices, specialized to do one thing.The reality is, people are losing interest because they already have a switch.Switch entering it’s ninth year is a reminder that we still haven’t gotten “Nintendo Switch: Seven Years In – Scott the Woz” yet.The babies all have Switches. They’ll get Switch 2 when Nintendo turns the marketing tap on in a few monthsI expect they’ll drop the regular Switch entirely, let the OLED run out of stock on a declining run schedule, but keep the Lite going until demand bottoms out. That would seem to be the most cost effective strategy for lowest entry point into the Switch ecosystem.Pretty much everyone has covered the obvious stuff about why sales are down. What I want to know is if Nintendo might change its strategy related to 1st party DLC. I keep thinking about the pretty good sized DLC for ACNH, and how I thought they could have done a 2nd even smaller one to really extend the IP and boost system sales. But, they timing was all wrong. I could see how a slightly different strategy across most of their DLC-friendly IP could have had some additional lift. But, at the same time I appreciate Nintendo for NOT following that path trying to milk fans for so much extra after the initial game sale.Ignoring the Switch 2 (hardware) it’s also hard to justify a purchase of a Switch when the software appeal is dramatically reducing. Every 7 year old and their uncle knows the new Zelda, Mario, Smash, Animal Crossing, Kart will be on Switch 2… The software line up for 2024 on Switch was just OK IMO (when compared to 2023) and it’s hard to look forward to 2025 when we only really know that Metroid Prime 4 and Pokemon are on the horizon.If they want to bump revenue and unit sales between now and transition period with Switch 2 (next 2 years) drop the price…Switch OLED -> $299
Switch OG -> $249
Switch Light -> $179Make sure every switch comes with Mario Kart 8 pre-installed while you’re at it.Yeah, this is the usual late-life sales dropoff, no biggie hereHe’s right in that a drop off would happen at this stage in its life, it’s just the natural way of things. You can also tell he doesn’t feel he needs to explain it much. Selling 11 million units in year 8 is phenomenal and only beaten by the PS2.I think he’s right. There just aren’t a lot of people left who are interested and don’t have a Switch yet.The only target audience I can imagine actively holding off a purchase right now, are those with a broken device.Solomon_Rambling wrote:If anyone bothered to do their research, they would know the Nintendo Switch is a Pisces, and 2025 is generally just not a good year for Pisces, so the horoscopes say. Of course sales will be down.And I belief Hollow Knight is in retrograde.@Anti-Matter So why sre talented devs still making breathtaking games for NES and SNES ?@premko1 Maybe there is the audience for retro looking games like NES / SNES style games. But I personally already moving on, no longer have interest with 8 / 16 bit games anymore. Too outdated in my opinion. At least give me decent retro 3D games like during PS2 era.@Anti-Matter See my point ? If only PS2 or PS3 or N64 or even Wii were here imagine the gamas we will see today ! Show CommentsLeave A CommentHold on there, you need to login to post a comment…69 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo’s ‘Supercharge’ eShop Sale (North America)Every game we scored 9/10 or higherNintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch Games… and the Switch 2!Ex-PlayStation Boss On Switch 2’s Name: Nintendo Created So Much “Brand Value””Why would you mess with that?”Random: Local Supermarket Wins Trademark Battle Against NintendoIt didn’t expect to beat “such a commercial monster”Rumour: Switch 2 Game Cases Might Take Up More Space On Your ShelfHere’s how they could compare to the current Switch cases 12News Bandai Namco Studios Has Reportedly Reduced Its Staff By Over 100 People 12News ‘Operation Night Strikers’ Brings Four Action-Packed Arcade Classics To Switch This Year 11News ‘Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes’ Story DLC Lands New 2025 Release Dates 9Nintendo Download 6th February (North America) 26Japanese Charts Donkey Kong Is Still The King Despite Diminishing SalesGuide 69 Games You Should Pick Up In Nintendo’s ‘Supercharge’ eShop Sale (Nort…Random Oh No, You Can Buy A Life-Sized Gardevoir Plush From Pokémon CenterNews Nintendo Shuts Down Live-Action Zelda Fan Film, ‘Lost In Hyrule’News Nintendo Reconfirms Release Windows For Major Upcoming Switch GamesNews Ex-PlayStation Boss On Switch 2’s Name: Nintendo Created So Much “B…Guide Pokémon TCG Pocket: Dialga EX Deck GuideRandom Local Supermarket Wins Trademark Battle Against NintendoRumour Switch 2 Game Cases Might Take Up More Space On Your ShelfNews Japan’s Switch eShop Will Soon No Longer Accept Overseas Payment MethodsNews “Nintendo Is Probably The Easiest To Scam” – Devs Discuss The …Popular Right NowShow More Join 1,506,609 people following Nintendo Life:© 2025 Hookshot Media, partner of IGN Entertainment | Hosted by 44 Bytes | AdChoices | Do Not Sell My Personal Information
