As anticipation builds towards the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 this year, Nintendo has sought assure gamers that there will be enough stock available to meet demand. In order to avoid shortages and prevent reseller scalping Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa revealed that the company is "taking risks and proceeding with production" to meet as much demand as possible.
The Switch 2 was officially announced in January with a 2025 release date. The reveal trailer showed off a few interesting features and, most notably, an increased screen size, but Nintendo was vague when it came to specifics. Instead, we'll have to wait until April to find how more details -- presumably the hardware specs and possibly even the price point and exact launch date.
But while the reaction to the information released at the upcoming Nintendo Direct will help Nintendo better "determine the level of initial demand and subsequent demand," it seems that the company is already taking necessary steps to ensure adequate supply at launch. A new rumor stemming from the Famiboards forums suggests that Nintendo has already shipped over 380,000 Nintendo Switch 2 units to North America.
Famiboards user LiC, who has been tracking the shipments of cartons and instruction manuals, estimates that 383,000 completed Switch 2 units were exported by HVBG in January. The leaker details:
They were all shipped to the US, and all were of the USZ (US/Canada) region code. 41,598 units of the charging grip were also shipped to the US, confirming that HGU0620 is the charging grip with a product code of BEE-A-ESSKA, which matches the Switch 1 charging grip’s HAC-A-ESSKA.
It's believed that this number will increase in the coming weeks, especially as we get closer to the Switch 2's actual launch date. At this point, Nintendo has not yet announced an official release date for the Switch 2 although there has been plenty of speculation. LiC predicts that the Switch 2 will release in June; however, some industry analysts estimate that it could be released later this, perhaps making it one of 2025's biggest holiday items.
The fact that Nintendo has already shipped close to 400,000 units to North America -- which is intended for distribution through the United States and Canda -- woudl suggest that the release is sooner rather than later. We should get a better idea of the system's launch date in just a few more weeks when the Switch 2 Direct drops on April 2nd.
The original Switch was Nintendo's best-selling home console, with over 146 million units shipped worldwide as of September 2024. It's currently the third-best-selling game console of all time, trailing only the PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS. But it remains to be seen how popular the Switch 2 will be.