It didn't take long for Nintendo's latest system to surge past the competition. The Switch 2 has become the fastest-selling console in history, seeing 3.5 million units sold in a matter of days. For comparison, the Steam Deck has sold somewhere between 4 and 5 million units since its release in 2022. Nintendo's hybrid console is clearly a big hit globally, but its performance in the Japanese market is particularly noteworthy.
According to sales data compiled by Famitsu, the Switch 2 has sold 1,101,136 consoles as of June 15 in Japan. That's more than the PS5 Digital Edition and all of Xbox's current-gen hardware, despite those systems being on the market for years at this point. When former Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida said that PlayStation doesn't consider Nintendo competition, he mentioned how things are different in the Japanese market, where Xbox "almost doesn't exist." That trend is on full display when looking at each company's Japanese sales figures, as the Series X has sold roughly a third of a million units in the nation, and the Series X Digital Edition has sold less than the Switch 2 did in one week.
How long the Switch 2 will be able to maintain this pace is unclear. The original Switch is the best-selling console of all time in the US, surpassing the PS2 in 2024, with the system going on to sell over 20 million units in Japan alone. While the road ahead may be long, the new console is already off to a great start, so it will be interesting to see how it performs from here.
Demand for the system is so high that it's caught the eye of criminals, too. Thieves stole roughly $1.4 million worth of Switch 2 consoles off a truck in Colorado earlier this month. This incredible story headlines just how popular the console is at the moment, and what many, including scalpers, will do to get their hands on Nintendo's newest hardware.
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