Latest news with #Switch2Nintendo
Forbes
18-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Nintendo Announces Switch 2 US Pre-Order Date, ‘Maintains' High Prices
Switch 2 Nintendo If you thought a backlash was going to cause Nintendo to change the price of the Switch 2 or the controversial Mario Kart World, think again. This is Nintendo, and Nintendo does what it wants. But the good new is that because of recent tariffs, at least it hasn't gone up. In an article published its website, Nintendo says it will 'Maintain' pricing for both Switch and Mario Kart, along with announcing the US pre-order date, April 24, which was delayed due to fluctuating US tariff policy. Nintendo says clearly these prices will remain the same, $450 for the Switch 2, $500 for the Mario Kart bundle and $80 for Mario Kart World itself (which is more in some regions). But some accessory prices has changed: Here's the full list of all Switch 2 products and accessories and their (high) prices: Mario Kart World Nintendo It never seemed likely that Nintendo would backtrack on any of this, especially the console price. But the more controversial move was the $80 price for Mario Kart World, which Nintendo simply defended by saying they thought the game was worth that much. If it flattens sales, that may change in the future, but that also seems somewhat unlikely as that will be the game to play on Switch 2 at launch. And raising the price would have been a PR disaster, 'economic conditions" or not. The $450 price makes Nintendo no longer the 'accessible' option in the current generation of gaming with $400 PS5s and $300 Xbox Series S consoles. But again, the Switch was such a generational hit that Nintendo thinks they can push all these prices upward. Donald Trump did in fact relent on most of his tariffs, making them a flat 10% on most countries outside of his escalating trade war with China. And recent policies have said that while some electronics (may) be exempt, that did not include video game consoles. While China has certainly been a key producer of consoles and components, there are also the complications of moves to Vietnam and Cambodia (which will no longer have their 40%+ tariffs) and Japan itself, which had 24% tariffs, now also down to 10% All of this adds up to…Nintendo not changing US prices. No amount of complaining or spawning 'DROP THE PRICE' in stream chat has done anything. So here we are, make your choice. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Bluesky Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
08-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Analysts Predict Potential, Eventual $530 Switch 2 Price After Tariffs
Switch 2 Nintendo Everyone has been attempting to guess what's going to happen to the price of the newly announced Nintendo Switch 2 as a result of Donald Trump's massive global tariffs, including significant ones on Japan and Nintendo manufacturing partners Vietnam and Cambodia. Now the experts are starting to chime in. Top analyst firm DFC Intelligence has issued its first Switch 2 report in the wake of its pricing, and while it's mostly positive about the console's prospects, the tariffs are the less-than-good-news part of it. While DFC says it believes the $450 price is still a good value, and it was less than the $500 they predicted before the pre-tariff global economic conditions, the tariffs now complicate things. They believe it will lower the overall sales of the Switch 2. Because of pricing concerns, their estimates for 2025 are now 15 million, down from 17 million. Those pricing concerns? They say it's possible there could be a 20% increase in the price of the Switch 2 over the next two years if these tariffs are maintained. That would put it at $530 in the US. Of course, there is easily the possibility, if not likelihood, PlayStation, Xbox and PC gaming prices could go up for the same tariff-based reasons. DFC says they will continue evolving their forecasts as things change on the ground. Switch 2 Nintendo That's the problem, there are so many unknowns, as the current, fluctuation tariff situation is impossibly hard to predict in terms of what happens next. The tariffs could go away tomorrow, stay the same, or increase as a trade war escalation. Here's what DFC says: 'The lower forecast are directly related to supply and pricing. With tariffs and uncertain pricing Nintendo may choose to scale back its manufacturing. If prices increase substantially due to tariffs, a significant portion of prospective buyers are likely to hold back on a purchase until prices come down. This situation is changing and will be closely monitored as DFC regularly updates its forecast throughout the year.' Despite all this, the overall conclusion is the somewhat predictable one that the Switch 2 is likely to be a huge hit, even if sales forecasts are lowered, and it may be the fastest-selling console ever. The first Switch is the third best-selling video game system of all time, and will likely be the second-best soon enough. It's not clear if the Switch 2 will reach those highs, but it's certainly possible. But a big price jump? That could easily throw a blue shell down the track. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Bluesky Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
Forbes
04-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
Nintendo Delaying Switch 2 US Pre-Orders Due To Tariffs, Market Drop
Switch 2 Nintendo Given that President Donald Trump's worldwide tariffs were announced just hours after the reveal of the pricey Nintendo Switch 2, the immediate question was how that hardware specifically would be affected by the move. Now, things are evolving quickly. Nintendo has just announced that it will be delaying the planned April 9 pre-order date for the Switch 2 in the US, and there is no announced date when they will go live instead. Here's the statement: The price of the Switch 2 was revealed as $449 this week, $150 more than the original Switch and $50 more than the mostly expected price of $400. Experts seemed to agree that the price would likely not change as a result of the tariffs, or possibly even that the assumption of coming tariffs raised the price ahead of time, but we have no confirmation of that. The actual tariffs include 24% slapped on Japan and 46% on Vietnam, where Nintendo now has moved some production of its hardware and components. This is more complicated than prices going up a known percent in the US, which may or may not happen, but the system already costs around $130 more than its equivalent in Japan. As for the 'evolving market conditions' that includes massive drops in the DOW and NASDAQ in the US, nearly 1,500 points in each of the last two days so far. Japan's Nikkei is down nearly a thousand points itself today. In short, the entire global trade system is currently up in the air due to the unprecedented moves by the US government. Nintendo livestream chat Youtube This is a pressing situation for Nintendo specifically given that the Switch 2's release is just two months away. They are already dealing with extremely upset consumers, mostly pushing back on its $80 price (more in some regions) for Mario Kart World, a bump that we have not seen across AAA games in the industry, but there is some concern this may now open the door for that. These tariffs are bound to affect more than just Nintendo of course, as Xbox and PS5 production is in Asia, plus gaming PC components on top of that. But the Nintendo situation is different with its price points announced literally the day the tariffs went live, and this imminent launch of a console that can no longer be pre-ordered by what is likely to be its biggest market. To say everyone's scrambling is something of an understatement. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.
