Nintendo president is 'carefully considering the situation' around memory prices as research firm predicts Switch 2 price hike

Shuntaro Furukawa (R), president of Japan's video game company Nintendo, and representative director Shigeru Miyamoto (L) attend a briefing of the company's financial results at a hotel in Tokyo on January 31, 2020. - Japanese gaming giant Nintendo reported a leap in sales and profit for the nine months to December, upgrading its full-year profit forecast on strong demand for its popular Switch console. — (Image credit: Kazuhiro Nogi)

In response to the rising prices of RAM and storage in 2026, the Nintendo Switch 2 may be set to become more expensive.

This is according to research firm Niko Partners (via VGC). In its 2026 prediction post, Niko Partner says, "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."

The report goes on to point out that Nintendo chose to keep the $449 price point last year, despite tariffs impacting production, and it suggests that Nintendo may instead choose to remove the cheapest Switch bundle. This would make buying a Nintendo Switch 2 more expensive, but only for those looking for a console by itself. If you buy the console in a bundle, it could cost the same, according to this prediction.

Furukawa doesn't confirm or deny those predictions either way but does say, "While it’s difficult to accurately gauge the future impact, our basic policy is to recognize tariffs as a cost and pass them on to prices as much as possible, not just in the US".

Nintendo Switch 2 — (Image credit: Future)

However, Furukawa also argues, "On the other hand, this is a crucial period for our game business as we promote the adoption of new hardware and maintain the momentum of our platforms. We are working on this while carefully considering the situation."

The volatility Furukawa gestures at is naturally being considered, but pricing is so important to a console, especially so early on in its life. The Nintendo Switch 2 only launched last June, and given the relatively budget price of the OG Switch and the Steam Deck, it felt like a lot of money for a console with few exclusives.

My first six months with the Switch 2 have certainly been positive, but paying even more for a device that can still get stick drift hurts the hardware nerd in me. And the Nintendo kid, too.

Best handheld PC 2026

1. Best overall:
Lenovo Legion Go S SteamOS

2. Best budget:
Steam Deck

3. Best Windows:
Asus ROG Xbox Ally X

4. Best big screen:
Lenovo Legion Go

5. Best compact:
Ayaneo Flip DS

👉Check out our full handheld gaming PC guide👈

TOPICS

James is a more recent PC gaming convert, often admiring graphics cards, cases, and motherboards from afar. It was not until 2019, after just finishing a degree in law and media, that they decided to throw out the last few years of education, build their PC, and start writing about gaming instead. In that time, he has covered the latest doodads, contraptions, and gismos, and loved every second of it. Hey, it’s better than writing case briefs.

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.