Nintendo Switch 2 profit almost doubled expectations despite the ongoing memory crisis

Super Mario jumping out of a Nintendo Switch 2

Published:

6 August 2026

Last Updated: 6 August 2026

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The launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 has significantly exceeded analyst expectations in its first year of sale. As the new console hits 23.68 million units sold in a single year, the handheld has exceeded profit expectations despite the extremely difficult hardware market.

Due to the extremely difficult state of hardware manufacturing, which has seen unparalleled increases in memory prices, the profit for Nintendo’s latest generation was expected to come in at 78.30 billion yen. Via GamesBeat, this figure has been significantly exceeded through the sales of the Nintendo Switch 2 handheld.

In the latest financial quarter, Nintendo has reported almost double the expected amount of net profit at 147.4 billion yen. The company’s revenue came in at 517.8 billion Japanese yen as well instead of the expected figure of 444.96 billion yen.

This increase in profit comes despite a sizeable drop in Nintendo Switch 2 console sales which has decreased by 3.82 million compared to this period last year. Instead, the company is being propped up by a significant increase in software sales, despite the increase in cost for production of physical game cartridges during the same period.

As per Nintendo’s own reports, Nintendo Switch 2 has already eclipsed the total sales figures of the Nintendo GameCube and the Nintendo Wii U, and is closing in on the Nintendo 64. However, there is still a considerable gap between the new console and some of the company’s more successful machines.

As of now, the original Nintendo Switch is the company’s most successful console to date with 156.59 million units sold between 2017 and 2026. While it seems unlikely that the Switch 2 will be able to match the intense sales of its predecessor, Nintendo is continuing to invest in high-quality software for the new machine.

The bigger worry, though, is the future of manufacturing for the Nintendo Switch 2 as AI companies continue to suck up the world’s memory. With the so-called RAMageddon set to continue until 2028 and prices unlikely to drop back to pre-2025 prices afterwards, production of the Nintendo Switch 2 and its physical cartridges is expected to continue rising in price which could bring additional price hikes to the hardware.

About The Author

Lewis White

Lewis White is a veteran games journalist with over a decade in the field. Starting with beloved Xbox website ICXM/XboxMAD, Lewis became the Gaming Editor at MSPoweruser before becoming the Editor in Chief of StealthOptional and Gfinityesports. Lewis later jumped to By Gamers For Gamers where he jumped to become EIC of VideoGamer and the host of the New VideoGamer Podcast prior to the website’s acquisition.

Over the years, Lewis has also seen long-form investigative pieces published in outlets such as Eurogamer, PCGamesN, Wireframe, Retro Gamer, Nintendo Life, and EDGE. Now, as the Editor in Chief of FRVR Blog, Lewis strives to bring the same level of quality journalism with interview-led content to the site in both written and audio form with the FRVR Podcast.

With a First Degree BA Hons in Games Journalism and Public Relations, Lewis has been a stable part of the British games press for over a decade, and has frequently displayed his love of Halo, The Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and other games pretty much everywhere he’s worked. And FRVR is no different.

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