Nintendo issues Switch 2 supply warning in Japan

Shortages of the Switch 2 look increasingly likely after Nintendo admitted today that it “cannot fulfill” all of the preorder applications it has already received through its own Japanese store.

In a statement on X via Nintendo’s Japanese account, president Shuntaro Furukawa confirmed that the company’s storefront has received 2.2 million applications to preorder the new console in Japan alone. That’s a number that “far exceeds our expectations, and far exceeds the number of Nintendo Switch 2 consoles that can be delivered from the My Nintendo Store on June 5th.”

In its first month on sale the original Switch sold 360,000 units in Japan, suggesting that Nintendo is seeing six times the demand for its sequel. The Japanese demand for day one is almost as high as the 2.74 million Switch consoles the company sold worldwide in its first few weeks in 2017.

Furukawa didn’t say how many consoles Nintendo has ready for the launch, but only that “a significant number of customers” won’t be lucky in the My Nintendo Store lottery. Those who don’t get a console will be automatically re-entered into a second lottery, while third-party retailers in Japan will begin taking preorders tomorrow, April 24th. In Japan Nintendo is offering two versions of the Switch 2: a Japanese-only model for ¥49,980 (about $350) and a ¥69,980 (about $500) multilingual version which is exclusively available through the My Nintendo Store.

Preorders have already been open for several weeks in some parts of the world, including most of Europe, and stores have sold out fast. US preorders open tomorrow for $449.99, following an initial delay over tariff concerns.