Unlike Sony and Microsoft, Nintendo has explicitly commented on how Donald Trump’s tariffs could affect the launch of Switch 2.
Although it’s quite obvious what has spurred Sony and Microsoft to raise the prices of their consoles – the new tariffs imposed by US president Donald Trump – neither company has admitted the fact and have instead tried to tiptoe around the issue.
Sony blamed ‘high inflation and fluctuating exchange rates’ for the PlayStation 5’s second price hike (which has only affected the UK, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand), while Microsoft said unfavourable ‘market conditions’ and increased development costs were why Xbox hardware and games would be more expensive going forward.
Nintendo, however, has been more forthcoming about how the tariffs could affect its business, going as far to say that its profits could see an ‘impact of tens of billions of yen.’
For context, 10 billion yen is just over £50 million and that’s just the minimum of how much Nintendo fears it could lose.
This comes straight from Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa, as part of the company’s financial results for the 2025 fiscal year (April 2024 to March 2025).
According to Japanese outlet Yomiuri Shimbun (as translated by IGN), Furukawa explicitly pointed to the tariffs as one of the ‘corresponding hurdles’ that could have a serious impact on Nintendo’s profits, especially with its new console, the Nintendo Switch 2, launching this year.
‘If prices of daily necessities like food increase [because of the tariffs] then people will have less money to spend on game consoles,’ said Furukawa.
He also acknowledged that any price increase for the Switch 2, in response to the tariffs, would only risk ‘decreasing sales.’ It’s unclear, though, if any price hike would apply worldwide or just for the US.
While certainly more expensive than its predecessor, the Switch 2 on its own is reasonably priced at £395.99/$449.99. However, Nintendo has come under fire for the price of its games, with Mario Kart World going for as much as £75/$80. Although other games, including first party title Donkey Kong Bananza are cheaper.
If the Switch 2 itself were to go up in price, less people would be inclined to buy it and there’s no telling if the higher price tag would help offset the loss of sales.
Nintendo already seems to be prepping itself for a smaller launch period than some expected for the Switch 2. It’s still aiming for 15 million units in the first nine months, which is a lot, but that’s only a smidge more than what the Switch 1 achieved in the same time frame.
Despite this conservative outlook, the Switch 2 is bound to be a success, given it’s already struggling to meet demand in Japan, but shareholders will already be disappointed at Nintendo’s sensibly conservative sales estimates.
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