Switch Overtakes DS As Nintendo's Best Selling Console, Switch 2 Bundles Still In Stock
For well over a decade, the DS ranked as Nintendo's top-selling console of all time, with lifetime sales now sitting at a little over 154 million units. Now there is a new king of Nintendo consoles, and it's name is Switch. The first-generation Switch console rode a holiday sales surge to claim the top spot with lifetime sales at 155.37 million units, pushing the iconic DS into second place.
The ascension of the Switch also pushes the DS into third place among all consoles, regardless of manufacturer. Only Sony's PlayStation 2 has sold more units than the Switch (and DS) with an estimated 160 million units sold, and there's a better-than-good chance it too will concede its standing to the Switch this year, perhaps even by the end of the first quarter, though more likely by the midway point of the year.
Source: Nintendo
We say the midway point is more likely because first-generation Switch sales are waning. In its latest earnings report, Nintendo notes that it sold 3.25 million Switch consoles last quarter, which is 66% less than the 9.54 million units it sold in the same quarter a year prior. Meanwhile, the Switch 2, which is the fastest-selling console in U.S. history, tallied 17.31 million units worldwide.
This doesn't mean Nintendo is abandoning the original Switch and its different variations. It remains Nintendo's only handheld with an OLED display option (Switch OLED), but more importantly, it has a massive base of users. This is reflected in software sales—Nintendo notes 108.93 million software titles sold for the Switch last quarter, which is down from 123.98 million from a year prior, but it still dwarfs the 37.93 million Switch 2 software titles sold in the same time frame.
According to Nintendo, there are over 100 million annual playing users on the first-generation Switch, a figure that's been increasing every year until 2025. Even though Nintendo didn't grow its user base for the Switch last year, there wasn't a steep drop off—just 1 million less from the previous high of 130 million users in 2024.
Beyond the widespread support and large library of games available, the other thing working in the original Switch's favor is pricing. Even the Switch OLED with its upgraded display and twice the storage (64GB versus 32GB) is quite a bit less than the Switch 2—the Switch OLED is currently on sale for $359.09 at Amazon and $377.95 at Best Buy.
Source: Nintendo
The other interesting thing to note is that Nintendo confirmed in December that it had stopped making Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundles, and that once existing supplies ran out, that would be it. Here we are a month and a half later, however, and we're still seeing the bundle in stock at several retailers.
Switch 2 at Amazon
Switch 2 + Mario Kart World at Amazon
Switch 2 at Best Buy
Switch 2 + Mario Kart World at Best Buy
Switch 2 at Walmart
Switch 2 + Mario Kart World at Walmart
Switch 2 at Target
Switch 2 at Newegg
Switch 2 + Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition at Walmart
It remains to be seen how long the Mario Kart World bundles will stay in stock (they're no longer available at Target) and/or what other bundles and iterations might be in the wings. For now, however, the bundle is pretty easy to come by.
Looking ahead, Nintendo anticipates selling (PDF) a few million more Switch consoles over the next three quarters, and 19 million Switch 2 units. It also anticipates 125 million Switch game sales and 48 million Switch 2 game sales in the same time frame.
