Nintendo Switch 2 Sales Drop 41% as Inventory Hits Record High

Switch 2 sold just 2.67 million units last quarter, down 41% year-on-year, while Nintendo's inventory value soared to a record 814.57 billion yen amid an industry-wide memory shortage.

Nintendo just dropped its latest financial report, and there's a big number that's turning heads: Switch 2 sales fell 41% year-on-year. Ouch.

For the second quarter of the 2026/27 fiscal year, Nintendo moved 2.67 million Switch 2 consoles worldwide. That's a sharp drop from the 4.54 million units sold in the same period last year, and it's also down from the 3.82 million units shifted in the previous quarter. Not exactly the momentum you'd hope for.

But here's the twist: while sales slowed, Nintendo's warehouse shelves are absolutely packed. As of September 30, the company's inventory was valued at 814.57 billion yen (about $5.14 billion / £3.8 billion), a massive jump from 539.8 billion yen the previous quarter. According to Nintendo Patents Watch, that's the highest inventory level in Nintendo's history.

So why the stockpile? The entire tech industry is grappling with a memory shortage, and manufacturers are doing everything they can to avoid raising prices further—or at least delay it as long as possible. Nintendo already bumped up the Switch 2's price globally earlier this year, following similar moves from Sony and Microsoft, who've been hiking console prices for years now.

It's a tough time for gaming all around. Recent reports suggest Microsoft's next Xbox could cost as much as $1,800. Given the skyrocketing costs of R&D, manufacturing, and securing memory and other essential components, Nintendo might actually be in a better spot than its rivals—at least for now. After all, the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S launched back in 2020, while the Switch 2 didn't arrive until 2025.

Nintendo had already built up a hefty stock of consoles before the Switch 2 even launched. And with The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time dropping today, plus the recent release of the 40th anniversary Zelda edition for Switch 2, the company is clearly hoping to have plenty of units ready for the holiday rush.

Will the stockpile pay off, or is Nintendo overestimating demand? Let us know what you think in the comments!