Nintendo's Comeback in Numbers: From Playing Cards to Switch 2 (Wii U Losses to Record Sales)

Nintendo began making playing cards in 1889. After the Wii-era peak, it posted three straight years of operating losses, the only ones in its figures since 1981, and the Wii U sold 13.56 million units. Then Switch took operating profit to a record 640.6 billion yen, and in the year to March 2026, Switch 2 pushed sales to a record 2,313.0 billion yen, about a quarter above the Wii-era peak. It never ran short of cash: in March 2014 it held 474.3 billion yen in cash and deposits and 7 million yen of loans.