Switch Best-Seller, Sales Drop for All - Japan Hardware Estimates for March 2025 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 14 April 2025 / 6,722 Views
The Nintendo Switch was the best-selling console in Japan with 161,844 units sold for March 2025, according to VGChartz estimates. The Nintendo Switch has now sold an estimated 35.58 million units lifetime in Japan.
The PlayStation 5 sold an estimated 121,898 units to bring its lifetime sales to 6.79 million units. The Xbox Series X|S sold 1,526 units to bring their lifetime sales to 0.67 million units.
PS5 sales compared to the same month for the PS4 in 2018 are up by over 5,000 units, while the Xbox Series X|S compared to the same month for the Xbox One are up by over 500 units. PS4 sold 116,871 units for the month of March 2018 and Xbox One sales were at 1,000 units.
Nintendo Switch sales compared to the same month a year ago are down by 137,337 units (-45.9%). PlayStation 5 sales are down by 17,347 (-12.5%) and Xbox Series X|S sales are down by 8,593 units (-84.9%).
Looking at sales month-on-month, Nintendo Switch sales are down by over 6,000 units, the PlayStation 5 sales are down by over 31,000 units, and Xbox Series X|S sales are down by nearly 6,000 units.
2025 year-to-date, the Nintendo Switch has sold an estimated 525,046 units, the PlayStation 5 has sold 322,738 units, and the Xbox Series X|S has sold 14,783 units.
Monthly Sales:
Japan hardware estimates for March 2025 (Followed by lifetime sales):
- Switch - 161,844 (35,583,092)
- PlayStation 5 - 121,898 (6,790,431)
- Xbox Series X|S - 1,526 (674,646)
Weekly Sales:
Japan March 8, 2025 hardware estimates:
- PlayStation 5 - 52,539
- Switch - 37,853
- Xbox Series X|S - 564
Japan March 15, 2025 hardware estimates:
- Switch - 27,911
- PlayStation 5 - 27,872
- Xbox Series X|S - 337
Japan March 22, 2025 hardware estimates:
- Switch - 30,518
- PlayStation 5 - 15,221
- Xbox Series X|S - 255
Japan March 29, 2025 hardware estimates:
- Switch - 30,504
- PlayStation 5 - 13,739
- Xbox Series X|S - 219
Japan April 5, 2025 hardware estimates:
- Switch - 35,058
- PlayStation 5 - 12,527
- Xbox Series X|S - 151
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
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Looking forward to seeing NX2 at a distant first place on the JP charts for the next 6-8 years lol
XBSXS only sold 500 more units this month (in JP) than XBOne launch aligned? Ouch. -85% YoY is catastrophic. PS5 being down YoY despite MHWilds boost is also a bit concerning. (Makes you think that Sony should maybe consider reversing the August price hike?) NSW also saw a heavy drop this month.
…In other words: Japanese consumers are saving their money for NSW2 lol.
Considering Sony just increased the price of the PS5 in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand I do not expect a price cut any time soon in Japan.
85% is rough. Xbox just has never been a JP market choice. PlayStation and Nintendo have always been the favs.
Seeing 45% decline for Switch is expected even if the Switch 2 wasn’t coming out. I don’t think that the consumers are saving up for Switch 2, but it does make sense for those who pay attention.
Pricing in Japan is a huge problem for the PS5. It's over double the price in Yen the PS4 was.
It seems only Nintendo is willing to eat the costs of the weak Yen . The Switch 2 in Japan is only 50k Yen, while the PS5 Disc Model is 80k Yen. So the PS5 Disc is 11% more expensive than a Switch 2 in USA, but it's 60% more expensive in Japan. PS4 was 35k Yen by the end of 2015.
Nintendo will be losing money on every Switch 2 sold in Japan at that price though.
If Sony wants to see bigger success in Japan again they need to both release a portable version of their next console and offer it at a good price for the Japanese market. Even the Vita sold 5.7m in Japan, make a portable and they will come.
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