Price Hike? Nintendo Plans 20M Switch 2 Units by March 2027

Twenty million consoles. That's how many Switch 2 units Nintendo is reportedly planning to produce by the end of its current fiscal year in March 2027, according to a report from Bloomberg. The figure is a significant jump from the 16.5 million unit sales forecast Nintendo gave during its most recent financial report, and it comes at a time when the company is about to make the console more expensive in every major market.

The price increases, which Nintendo announced alongside a public apology to customers, will push the US price from $449.99 to $499.99, with similar bumps in Canada (up to $679.99) and Europe (up to €499.99). Japan's hike hits first on May 25, with Western markets following on September 1. Raising prices and ramping production simultaneously is a bold move, and I think it tells you everything about how Nintendo reads its own demand data right now.

There's already evidence that the price hike is driving a pre-emptive buying surge. Japanese sales data published by Famitsu for the week of May 11-17 shows 217,922 Switch 2 units sold in a single week, surpassing the previous two-week total of 214,438. Lifetime Switch 2 sales in Japan alone have now crossed 5.58 million. People are clearly rushing to buy before the price goes up, and Nintendo seems to be betting that demand won't collapse once it does.

This isn't the first time Nintendo has sandbagged its own forecasts. Last year, the company originally projected 15 million Switch 2 sales for its launch year, then revised that up to 19 million after the console flew off shelves. It ended up shipping 19.86 million. The pattern is familiar: low estimate, strong sales, quiet upward revision. If the 20 million production figure is accurate, Nintendo is clearly expecting to blow past its public 16.5 million target again.

What makes this confidence interesting is how thin the announced software lineup looks beyond the next few months. Star Fox launches June 25 with a neat GameChat feature using the Switch 2 camera, Splatoon Raiders arrives July 23, and Fire Emblem is on the horizon. But 20 million units needs more than that. Persistent rumors about an Ocarina of Time remake and the possibility of Pokémon Winds & Waves landing before March 2027 suggest Nintendo has cards it hasn't played yet. A summer Direct would go a long way toward explaining where all this confidence is coming from.