Switch 2 Once Again Dominates - Japan Hardware Estimates for February 2026 - Sales
by William D'Angelo , posted on 12 March 2026 / 9,416 Views
The Nintendo Switch 2 was the best-selling console in Japan with 283,640 units sold for February 2026, according to VGChartz estimates. The Nintendo Switch 2 has now sold an estimated 4.70 million units lifetime.
The Nintendo Switch 1 sold an estimated 86,155 units to bring its lifetime sales to 36.66 million units. The PlayStation 5 sold an estimated 48,202 units to bring its lifetime sales to 7.42 million units. The Xbox Series X|S sold 3,861 units to bring their lifetime sales to 0.70 million units.
Switch 2 sales compared to the same month for the Switch 1 in 2018 are up by over 104,000 units as the Switch 1 sold 179,380 units in Japan in February 2018.
PS5 sales compared to the same month for the PS4 in 2019 are down by over 35,000 units, while the Xbox Series X|S compared to the same month for the Xbox One are up by over 3,000 units. PS4 sold 83,325 units for the month of February 2019 and Xbox One sales were at 405 units.
Nintendo Switch 1 sales compared to the same month a year ago are down by 81,931 units (-48.7%). PlayStation 5 sales are down by 104,830 (-68.5%) and Xbox Series X|S sales are down by -3,560 units (-48.0%).
Looking at sales month-on-month, Nintendo Switch 2 sales are down by over 32,000 units, Nintendo Switch 1 sales are up by over 11,000 units, PlayStation 5 sales are up by over 5,000 units, and Xbox Series X|S sales are up by over 2,000 units.
2026 year-to-date, the Nintendo Switch 2 has sold an estimated 0.60 million units, the Nintendo Switch 1 has sold 0.15 million units, the PlayStation 5 has sold 0.09 million units, and the Xbox Series X|S has sold 0.01 million units.
Monthly Sales:
Japan hardware estimates for February 2026 (Followed by lifetime sales):
- Switch 2 - 283,640 (4,701,776)
- Switch 1 - 86,155 (36,661,650)
- PlayStation 5 - 48,202 (7,423,012)
- Xbox Series X|S - 3,861 (695,881)
Weekly Sales:
Japan February 7, 2026 hardware estimates:
- Switch 2 - 68,439
- PlayStation 5 - 11,158
- Switch 1 - 8,907
- Xbox Series X|S - 1,258
Japan February 14, 2026 hardware estimates:
- Switch 2 - 60,091
- Switch 1 - 26,508
- PlayStation 5 - 11,602
- Xbox Series X|S - 759
Japan February 21, 2026 hardware estimates:
- Switch 2 - 65,846
- Switch 2 - 28,451
- PlayStation 5 - 17,536
- Xbox Series X|S - 1,193
Japan February 28, 2026 hardware estimates:
- Switch 2 - 89,264
- Switch 1 - 22,289
- PlayStation 5 - 15,082
- Xbox Series X|S - 651
VGChartz Methodology: Hardware estimates are based on retail sampling and trends in individual countries, which are then extrapolated to represent the wider region. This typically allows us to produce figures that end up being within 10% of the actual totals.
This data is regularly compared against official shipment figures released by the console manufacturers and figures estimated by regional trackers with greater market coverage than ourselves. We then update our own estimates to bring them into line with those figures. This can result in frequent changes often within a short space of time, but we feel it's important to prioritise accuracy over consistency.
Note that our estimates are based on sell-through data (units sold to consumers). In almost all cases the figures released by console manufacturers are based on shipment data (sell-in), where as soon as a device has left the factory and entered the supply chain for delivery it is considered a sale. This is why there is always a difference between the companies’ figures (sell-in) and VGChartz estimates (sell-through), even after we’ve made adjustments. The one exception to that is when a console has been discontinued and the remaining stock has finally sold out – at that point the figures will match.
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 follow the author on Bluesky.
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Switch 1 good distance in front of the PS5 here
nice to see the Switch #2 all time
At this rate... The PS5/6 Portable may actually struggle in Japan as well
Weird to see the NS1 still selling ahead of the PS5
Yeah. I think it's more than just handheld or console preference, it's a brand issue exactly like what happened with Xbox in Europe/USA. I think Sony was willing to drop Japan for Europe/USA though and for them the tradeoff was worth it.
Just releasing a PS5/6 Portable by itself would be like putting a band aid on a bullet wound.
Until Sony address the REAL problem, the severe lack of games developed and catered specifically to the Japanese market, nothing will change.
agreed. final fantasy VII part 3 will sell more on the switch2 than the PS5
Early today, I made sure to take a look at Hardware sales in the Platform Totals one last time to see the Nintendo Switch at the #3 place for the last time. Now, it is finally the second-best selling video game system of all time
Is there going to be a final Switch vs DS post?
Same pattern as it's been for Nintendo since the SNES. Dominate Japan, lose Europe, and split North America.
Most of the Nintendo Home consoles did not do particularly well in Japan. Only handhelds and hybrids.
Three of the seven dedicated Nintendo home consoles were losers. They didn't do well anywhere.
The N64 and GameCube did markedly better in the USA than in Japan. The N64 was competing with the Saturn for the scraps left behind by the PS1.
My statement is Nintendo dominates the Japanese market, not they sell more in Japan than anywhere else. Why bring up two consoles which got beat everywhere because they were outsold 3 to 1 and 7 to 1 respectively?
The N64 sold 33 million units and had a large number of groundbreaking games, hardly 'scrapes' and it outsold the Saturn by over 20 milion consoles.
Speaking of Japan specifically, as Japan is the topic of discussion here,, they were unimpressed by the “groundbreaking” titles there. The Saturn actually outsold the N64 in Japan by a small margin. Nintendo’s current dominance of the Japanese market is a recent phenomenon.
Again, both those consoles were losers. They didn't dominate anywhere because they lost....badly.
It lost, and it lost badly. Gamecube even moreso.
Japan consumers are a handheld first type of gamers. The market is more handheld lifestyle as the Japanese make portability a priority.
Then theres the pricing of PS5 over switch 2 and 1. PS5 is seen as a high end gaming console over there and cater for a more demographic audience who can slash out for it. Remember, even thr latest digital Japanese language version is still more expensive than the first launch console..
Whereas the Switch are more affordable and more accessible.
Games on the switch definitely cater for the Japanese market a lot more than the PS5 does. Switch does a good job of being a console in Japan with Japanese oriented games. While Switch in Europe and Americas gives us a wide range of western games with Japanese games. PS5 doesn't really do this. The PS5 seems more targeted to western gamers that have Japanese games on the console. So the Japanese get this western console with Japanese games on it, rather than the other way round.
