The original Switch was hard to come by when it released back in 2017, while the PS5 was absolutely plagued by stock shortages for almost an entire year after launch. To make matters worse, PS5 consoles were often snapped up by scalpers and resold at a higher cost.

Japan's Nintendo cut its full-year sales Switch forecast by 12% to 11 million units as the aging console loses momentum ahead of the launch of a successor device this year. Nintendo remains dependent on its console business even as it has opened stores and its roster of characters feature in theme parks and film.