Nintendo Switch 2 price increase predicted for this year thanks to tariffs and increased memory costs
It seems like a Nintendo Switch 2 price increase is a matter of when, not if
🤔 A price hike for the Nintendo Switch 2 is predicted for 2026 by Niko Partners
📈 Increased memory costs, tariffs, and macroeconomic conditions are cited as the primary reasons for the predicted increase
🤫 Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa acknowledged the “volatile” memory market but would not comment on “hypotheticals”
💰 Instead of a direct price increase, Nintendo might discontinue the current $449 SKU and only sell higher-priced bundles
If you’re still holding off on purchasing a Nintendo Switch 2, you might want to act soon.
Video game business intelligence and consumer insight firm Niko Partners has predicted that a global price hike for the Switch 2 will take place in 2026 (thanks, VGC).
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa recently said that the current memory market is “very volatile” and that it is something that Nintendo is going to “monitor closely”. However, he said, “I cannot comment on hypotheticals.”
But according to Niko Partners, increased memory costs, the impact from tariffs, and macroeconomic conditions could force Nintendo’s hand.
“The Nintendo Switch 2 is competitively priced compared to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, after the latter consoles witnessed price hikes last year,” the report reads.
“But we believe the Switch 2 is set to follow in Sony and Microsoft’s footsteps with its own price hike driven by the impact from tariffs, increased memory costs, and broader macroeconomic conditions.
“Nintendo chose to maintain its $449 entry price last year despite the introduction of tariffs impacting production in China, Japan and Vietnam. More recently, increased demand for AI data centers has pushed RAM and storage prices up.
“While we do anticipate Nintendo to increase the price of the Switch 2, they may opt to discontinue the $449 SKU and only sell a $499 or higher bundle SKU instead.”
Nintendo raised the price of Switch 2 accessories and the Switch, Switch OLED and Switch Lite last August, citing “market conditions” as the cause. We’ve also seen Sony and Microsoft raise the price of its consoles.
Sadly, with the economy continuing to be volatile and ‘RAMaggedon’ causing havoc, it seems like a matter of when, not if, we’ll see a Nintendo Switch 2 price increase.
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Adam Vjestica is The Shortcut’s Senior Editor. Formerly TechRadar’s Gaming Hardware Editor, Adam has also worked at Nintendo of Europe as a Content Marketing Editor, where he helped launch the Nintendo Switch. He also runs a retro gaming YouTube channel called Game on, boy! Follow him on X @ItsMrProducts.