The Nintendo Switch 2 felt quite pricey at launch, what with its $450 price tag and all. However, the memory crisis has hit everyone, and the Japanese company is feeling pressure to raise its prices.
This is all according to a recent report from Bloomberg. It notes that Nintendo’s stock price has been on a decline, and hardware insecurity around both the memory crisis and outbreak of war in Iran has only made that worse.
Bloomberg notes that Nintendo investors are concerned its launch price of $450 is “deeply unprofitable”.
Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Toyo Research Advice, tells Bloomberg that the stock will continue to decline unless Nintendo ups its prices. As of right now, a $50-$100 price increase seems the most likely, according to Bloomberg, but Yasuda thinks this is still not enough to make the console profitable.
However, companies don’t tend to make their profits on consoles. The first Switch model did manage to break even, but it’s a bit of an anomaly in that sense. The likes of Nintendo have control over its own storefront and will take a portion of sales from software. With hits like Pokémon Pokopia back in March, the Switch 2 is simply the price of entry to play the game.
Not everyone agrees that a price hike is the right call, though. As reported by Bloomberg, Michael Pachter, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, says, “I think they would be foolish to raise prices”.
As we reported earlier this year, Nintendo has been “carefully considering the situation” around the memory crisis and has been thinking about a price hike for a while. With Nintendo due to announce its earnings this Friday, all eyes are on that meeting.
I personally have been using my Switch 2 for almost a year now, and I still regularly turn the device on, but even $450 felt a bit much for me at launch. Paying $500-$550 for a comparably underpowered Nintendo console without any bundled games is a tough sell, no matter how much you want the next Mario game.