Gamers in the US were set to preorder the Nintendo Switch 2 on Wednesday, but Nintendo delayed the preorders, sparking concerns about a potential price increase due to newly imposed tariffs.
With the Switch 2’s launch date set for June 5, the original starting price of $450 seems uncertain now. On the same day as the Switch 2 reveal, President Donald Trump announced sweeping new tariffs that would have affected Japan and Vietnam, where Nintendo is based and the country where the Switch 2 is being produced, respectively.
Tariffs did go into effect Wednesday morning; however, Trump appeared to have changed his mind later in the afternoon, announcing a 90-day pause and a substantially lowered reciprocal tariff during this period of 10%, effective immediately. The original tariffs on Vietnam would have been 46%, while Japan was at 24%. Now, Nintendo has to contend with the 10% tariff instituted on all countries.
Industry analysts have offered their guesses on the potential cost of the next-gen Nintendo console. Wedbush Securities Analyst Michael Pachter believes that at launch on June 5, the Switch 2 will still be priced at $450. However, if tariffs are applied after the pause, Pachter expects Nintendo of Japan to ship the consoles to Nintendo of America at the bare minimum cost to pay the lowest tariffs possible, potentially resulting in a $75-$100 price increase, putting the Switch 2’s price in the $525 to $550 range.
Piers Harding-Rolls, Ampere Analysis research director, gave a similar price range, stating that a price increase of at least $50-$100 for the base console is realistic to offset some of the additional costs. Alternatively, Nintendo might absorb the additional cost and make up the margin on digital game sales instead.
DFC Intelligence CEO David Cole expects a price increase, but not a large one, as he believes the starting price of $450 already factors in a percentage to cover possible tariffs. A 20% rise would put the price of the console after tariffs at around $540, which Cole considers unlikely.
The Switch 2 is priced at $450, with a bundle including Mario Kart World available for $500. Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser stated that previous tariffs were not factored into the initial price announcement. Bowser defended the $450 price tag, saying it was appropriate for the machine’s value and that Nintendo wanted to provide options for different budgets by making other Switch platforms available.
Nintendo still has to figure out a proper strategy to deal with these tariffs as it releases its next console. An appropriate launch price can either lead to a steady stream of sales for the company or create a significant issue that the company may spend years trying to resolve.
