Nintendo could also be about to “follow in Sony and Microsoft’s footsteps” and announce a Change 2 worth hike, based on a report from online game shopper insights agency Niko Companions. Though the brand new system is at the moment outselling the unique Nintendo Change by a large margin in its first 12 months, spiking RAM prices and ongoing tariffs might change all that.
Niko Companions notes in a recent report (via VGC) that Nintendo opted “to maintain [the Nintendo Switch 2’s] $449 entry price” when the system launched in June 2025, at the same time as a commerce warfare between the U.S. and China fueled worth hikes on its competitors. It now expects Nintendo to must match these will increase in 2026 on account of excessive import taxes, elevated reminiscence prices, and different market circumstances. Even Amazon’s CEO is warning that that is the 12 months firms begin passing on extra of the ache of tariffs to shoppers.
Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa previously told investors last November that the corporate might hold the Change 2 at $450 and “maintain the current level of profitability for hardware for the time being unless there are significant changes in external factors.” That point could have now handed. Earlier this year, he stated the corporate was monitoring the present RAM scenario and didn’t decide to not elevating the worth within the close to future.
These rumblings proceed to counsel that anybody considering of shopping for a Change 2 within the subsequent 12 months is likely to be higher off doing it sooner quite than later, although Niko Companions notes that Nintendo would possibly simply begin completely promoting the $500 Change 2 bundle quite than elevating the worth of the standalone SKU. Within the meantime, the second half of the machine’s launch 12 months has been decidedly extra uneven than the primary.
Regardless of having the fastest sales of any Nintendo console ever, and currently outselling the unique Nintendo Change in Japan by nearly 2:1 in its first 30 weeks available on the market, Nintendo’s inventory has been tanking. Change 2 Christmas {hardware} gross sales had been reportedly down by 35 percent in comparison with {hardware} gross sales in 2017 (the Nintendo Change’s launch 12 months). {Hardware} gross sales numbers is likely to be sturdy total, however Bloomberg reported that recreation gross sales and fix charges had been really down in comparison with the primary Change’s debut.
In the meantime, Nintendo’s inventory worth has dipped by a whopping 23.45 percent during the last three months. With strain mounting from the AI-driven RAM shortages and a bizarre vacation season for the Change 2, Nintendo is within the awkward place of needing to take care of the present launch-window gross sales momentum whereas additionally being anticipated to extend the {hardware}’s price ticket. The one factor that would sq. that circle is a brand new 3D Mario or Zelda journey, however neither of these have been formally introduced but.
