Nintendo has recently announced a global price increase for its Switch 2 console, set to take effect from September. In the United States, the price will rise from $449.99 to $499.99, while in most European countries it will increase from €469.99 to €499.99. The company has also confirmed that the Japanese-language version of the Switch 2, along with all versions of the original Switch, will cost more from May 25. According to a report by BBC on the matter, a revised price for the United Kingdom – where the Switch 2 currently retails for £395.99 – is yet to be confirmed.
The primary driver behind the price hike is a sharp surge in memory chip costs. Random access memory (RAM) and storage, which are two essential components in any console, have doubled in price during the first quarter of this year alone, explains the BBC report. Experts forecast that prices could climb by as much as 63% in the current quarter, due to booming demand from artificial intelligence (AI) data centres. This demand has constrained supply not only for game consoles, but also for smartphones, laptops, and automobiles.
According to a Reuters report on the matter, while major memory producers such as Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron have pledged billions of dollars in new investment to boost output, a new production line typically takes at least a year to come online. This means that cost pressures are unlikely to ease in the near term.
Regarding the price increase, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa has officially stated that higher component costs – particularly for memory – along with exchange rate fluctuations, are reflected in the decision to raise prices. The company has also faced pressure from US President Donald Trump’s tariff plans, which were announced around the console’s launch. Analysts have further noted that uncertainty caused by the war in Iran could affect supply chains, states the BBC report.
Nintendo has officially “sincerely apologised” to customers, stating that “changes in market conditions” had contributed to the decision. The company expects the price hikes to add roughly 100 billion yen ($638 million) to costs in the current financial year. With the increases, profitability will be roughly unchanged from last year.
Nintendo is not alone in raising prices. Sony announced in March that it would increase the price of the PlayStation 5, with the standard version jumping $100 to $649.99 in the US. Sony has also raised UK prices by £90. CEO Hiroki Totoki has said that while the company has secured memory supply for this financial year, prices are expected to remain high next year. Sony is now looking at ways to reduce costs outside of memory.
Meanwhile, Steam-owner Valve has held back the release date of its PC-console hybrid device, which was announced last year.
For Nintendo, the risks are significant. The Switch 2 is still early in its lifecycle, and its casual user base is particularly price-sensitive, according to Serkan Toto of the Kantan Games consultancy, as per the Reuters report. That means Nintendo is under more pressure than ever to deliver big first-party games to boost demand. The company expects to sell 16.5 million Switch 2 units this year (down from 19.9 million last year), alongside 60 million software units.
Despite the challenges, Nintendo has revealed that it sold almost 20 million Switch 2 consoles since its release last June, and made a profit of 424.0 billion yen ($2.7 billion) – an increase of 52% over the previous year. Whether the price hikes will dampen that momentum remains to be seen.
