microSD Express Cards Fly Off Shelves Post-Switch 2 Announcement—Over 337 Units Sold Hourly

When Nintendo rolled out the announcement for the Switch 2, they specified that players would need to use microSD Express cards for expanding the console’s storage. As soon as this news dropped, both digital and physical retailers saw their stock disappear rapidly. Over at Hermitage Akihabara in Japan, some staff reported selling upwards of 337 cards each hour. This was quite astonishing given the higher price tag of microSD Express cards compared to their standard microSD counterparts.

### MicroSD Express Cards: A Costly but Necessary Upgrade

Consider the standard Lexar 1TB Play microSD card, which is usually priced at $129.99 on Amazon. As of now, it’s discounted to $69.99. It boasts read speeds up to 160 MB/s and write speeds of 100 MB/s. While decent, these speeds don’t match up to device internal storage. Enter the microSD Express version, with blazing read speeds of 900 MB/s and write speeds of 600 MB/s. This speed increase does come at a premium, with the Lexar 1TB Play Pro microSD Express card originally listed at $199.99, and even discounted, it still costs $172.63—more than double its non-Express sibling.

### No Scalping in Sight

Despite the significant cost of microSD Express cards for the Switch 2, they flew off shelves following Nintendo’s announcement. Interestingly, this isn’t because of scalping issues. Reports suggest 80% of customers bought just one card, and nobody was purchasing more than three. This pattern indicates that most people were likely getting ready for their personal use in time for the Switch 2’s release.

The microSD Express standard has been available since 2019, though its hefty price tag has deterred widespread adoption—especially when alternatives like non-Express microSD cards and SSDs provide options for both portable and fixed storage, respectively. Many gaming consoles do allow for internal memory expansion via SSD swaps, but this process calls for opening up the device and tinkering with some settings.

Since Nintendo prefers users not to modify the guts of its consoles, offering microSD Express cards as a storage solution for the Switch 2 is much more user-friendly. This might be even more crucial given the console’s lineup of new AAA games, which could easily fill up its 256 GB internal drive. With microSD Express, keeping your favorite games at your fingertips won’t be an issue.

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