The Nintendo Switch has become Nintendo's best-selling console ever, surpassing the legendary Nintendo DS a milestone more than 12 years after the handheld was discontinued. According to Nintendo’s latest earnings report, the Switch has now sold over 155.37 million units worldwide as of December 31, 2025, edging past the DS’s lifetime total of 154.02 million units.
This was widely expected after Nintendo reported in November that both consoles were neck and neck. The holiday shopping season pushed the Switch over the top, even as Nintendo publicly shifted primary development focus toward the Switch 2. The company has also said it plans to keep selling the original Switch “while taking consumer demand and the business environment into consideration.”
Now that the DS has been dethroned, the Switch’s net and biggest target is Sony’s PlayStation 2, which remains the best-selling console of all time with over 160 million units sold before its discontinuation in 2013.
With the Switch now sitting at 155.37 million, it’s suddenly within striking distance assuming Nintendo can sustain sales momentum alongside its newer hardware
Nintendo’s latest earnings also show that the Switch 2 is off to a strong start. The console sold 7.01 million units during the October–December holiday quarter, up from 4.54 million units the previous quarter. Total lifetime sales for Switch 2 now stand at 17.37 million units, meaning it surpassed the Wii U’s lifetime total in less than a year.
Financially, the impact has been massive. Nintendo reported a 51% year-over-year increase in net profit over the first nine months of FY26, reaching ¥358.86 billion ($2.31 billion). Net sales nearly doubled to ¥1.906 trillion ($12.2 billion), up from ¥956.2 billion last year. The company still expects to sell 19 million Switch 2 units by the end of the current fiscal year.
The Nintendo Switch officially becoming Nintendo’s best-selling console ever isn’t just a nostalgia win it’s proof that hybrid gaming has reshaped the market. With the Switch now closing in on the PlayStation 2’s all-time record and Switch 2 accelerating fast, Nintendo is entering one of the strongest commercial eras in its history and the hardware race just got a lot more interesting.
Emmanuel Umahi
