The original Switch is officially Nintendo’s best-selling console of all time after surpassing the DS handheld in lifetime sales. In its latest earnings release, Nintendo reports that the Nintendo Switch has, as of December 31, 2025, sold 155.37 million units since its launch in 2017, compared to 154.02 million units for the 2004 Nintendo DS.
In November, Nintendo reported that the Switch and DS were neck and neck. We expected the holiday sales period would see the Switch surpass the DS, even with Nintendo announcing that primary development would focus on the Switch 2. Nintendo previously said that it would continue to sell the original Switch “while taking consumer demand and the business environment into consideration.”
Nintendo has to keep selling the Switch if it wants to dethrone Sony’s PlayStation 2 as the best-selling video game console of all time. The PlayStation 2, discontinued in January 2013, sold more than 160 million units over its 13-year lifespan.
Demand for the Switch 2 accelerated over the holidays, with Nintendo reporting 7.01 million units sold during the quarter covering October through December, compared to 4.54 million units in the previous quarter. In total, the Switch 2 has now sold 17.37 million units since it launched in June 2025, taking less than a year to surpass the Wii U’s 13.7 million lifetime sales.
The Switch 2 launch has helped Nintendo to drive a 51 percent increase in net profit over the first nine months of FY26, reaching ¥358.86 billion (about $2.31 billion). Net sales almost doubled during the same period, jumping to ¥1.906 trillion (about $12.2 billion) compared to ¥956.2 billion ($6.1 billion) last year. Looking ahead, Nintendo maintains its forecast to sell 19 million Switch 2 units by the end of this financial year.
Source: www.theverge.com
