Nintendo Swap 2 controllers are displayed throughout on the Nintendo New York retailer on June 4, 2025, for a launch occasion forward of the online game hybrid console’s midnight launch.
David Dee Delgado | AFP | Getty Pictures
Nintendo bought greater than 3.5 million items of its flagship Swap 2 gaming system within the 4 days following its launch, with on-line shops of main U.S. retailers placing up “out of inventory” indicators.
The record-breaking begin for the corporate’s first new console in eight years, places Nintendo on the trail to realizing its goal of promoting 15 million items of the Swap 2 console within the fiscal yr ending March 2026.
Nonetheless, analysts proceed to imagine that these expectations are modest, and forecast the sturdy preliminary demand to maintain.
“The market anticipated a file from Nintendo, and because it seems, Nintendo delivered,” Serkan Toto, CEO and founding father of gaming business consultancy Kantan Video games, informed CNBC.
“All alerts previous to launch pointed to important demand, and I imagine we’ll see additional data damaged over the following weeks or months,” he added.
Toto has maintains that the Swap 2 will promote over 20 million items in its first 12 months. David Gibson, senior analysis analyst at MST Monetary informed CNBC that he expects 20 million gross sales for the yr ending March 2026.
The Swap 2, which was launched on June 5, has been met with a lot fanfare, with individuals lining up for hours forward of midnight releases at Nintendo shops.
“Followers around the globe are exhibiting their enthusiasm for Nintendo Swap 2 as an upgraded solution to play at dwelling and on the go,” Nintendo of America President and Chief Working Officer Doug Bowser mentioned in a assertion, including the corporate was grateful for the response.
Tokyo-listed shares of Nintendo, which have gained almost 30% to this point this yr, had been down 3.5% on Wednesday, LSEG knowledge confirmed. The corporate has seen its shares rise almost fivefold for the reason that authentic Swap debuted in early March 2017.
It stays to be seen if the Swap 2 can recapture the magic of its predecessor, which had set the bar with 15 million unit gross sales in its first yr. It went on to promote greater than 152 million items to grow to be the second-highest promoting Nintendo system ever, behind the Nintendo DS.
Shortages?
The file preliminary gross sales of the Swap are in step with the sturdy demand analysts had predicted. Nonetheless, the push has put into query Nintendo’s capability to satisfy demand.
Retailers together with Walmart, GameStop, Goal and Finest Purchase had been out of inventory of the consoles, their on-line shops confirmed Wednesday.
In April, Nintendo’s Bowser informed CNBC that the corporate had been working with “retail companions to make sure there’s ample provide for not solely the launch weekend, however effectively past.”
Nonetheless, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said the identical month that 2.2 million individuals in Japan had entered the lottery to buy the Swap 2 on launch day, exceeding expectations and what the corporate had initially deliberate to ship to shops.
Kantan Video games’ Toto mentioned shortages in Japan had been anticipated to persist, however could be much less impactful elsewhere.
“Aside from Japan the place demand for Swap 2 is very excessive, it seems to be like followers who actually need the console and make investments time in attempting to safe one truly can get one,” he mentioned. “It would take some time, however so far as might be monitored, provide appears to be extra strong than across the launch of the unique Swap in 2017.”
President Donald Trump’s “reciprocal tariffs” on most nations around the globe additionally current headwinds for the Swap 2.
In April, the corporate introduced that it could delay preorders of the Swap 2 within the U.S. whereas it considers the affect of tariffs.
The Swap 2 retails for $449 within the U.S., which makes it Nintendo’s priciest console so far.
Nintendo’s Bowser mentioned in April the corporate was going to “monitor the place tariffs are going” earlier than making any additional choices on worth hikes.
MST Monetary’s Gibson mentioned {that a} decision to Trump’s tariffs and decrease responsibility charges may see the Swap 2 costs drop within the U.S.
The Swap 2 builds on the success of the unique Swap, that includes a bigger display and improved efficiency. The system additionally introduces the brand new GameChat2 characteristic, which permits gamers to voice or video chat with mates on-line and share recreation screens.
— CNBC’s Arjun Kharpal contributed to this story.
