Nintendo and Sony report weaker console hardware sell-in as software and services rise

SAN JOSE — Nintendo Co., Ltd. said Nov. 5 that Nintendo Switch 2 hardware sell-in fell 37.4% year on year to 6.49 million units in the half-year ended Sept. 30, 2026, while Switch 2 software sell-in rose 18.8% to 24.49 million units, according to its financial results explanatory material.

For readers who don't follow gaming: The Switch 2 is Nintendo's current video game console, a hybrid that works as a handheld device and also slides into a dock to play on a TV. "Sell-in" counts units the companies shipped to stores and other sellers, not units bought by players.

PlayStation is Sony's video game brand. The PlayStation 5, or PS5, is its current console, a box that sits under or near a living-room TV and is played with a handheld controller. Unlike the Switch 2, the PS5 can't be carried around and played on its own screen. A PlayStation account is the free online sign-in players use to buy and download games and play with others online.

Nintendo's investor relations (IR) sales page lists life-to-date Switch 2 hardware at 26.35 million units and software at 73.21 million. Half-year net sales were 966.0 billion yen, down 12.1%, while operating profit rose 49.1% to 216.5 billion yen. Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream, a Nintendo life-simulation game, sold 8.81 million units in the half, the material says.

Sony Group's Nov. 5 presentation for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2026, shows sales for Game & Network Services, the segment that runs its PlayStation business, of 1,208.5 billion yen, up 9%, and operating income of 220.1 billion yen, up 83%. Sony listed lower hardware unit sales among the offsets. Sony Interactive Entertainment's business data page lists PlayStation 5 sell-in of 2.6 million units that quarter, down from 4.0 million a year earlier, cumulative PS5 sell-in of more than 97 million as of Sept. 30, 2026, and 127 million monthly active PlayStation accounts.

Source: Nintendo financial results explanatory material, Nov. 5, 2026; Nintendo dedicated video game sales units; Sony Q2 FY2026 consolidated financial results presentation; Sony Interactive Entertainment Business Data & Sales.