Analysts: $299 is the Highest Nintendo Can Price the Switch - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 21 October 2016 / 12,289 Views
Several analysts have agreed that the highest Nintendo can price the Switch to be a success is $299. That will put it in line to compete with the price of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.
"Price pretty much depends on specs, and success depends on both price and specs. If the specs are close to PS4, I think they can price around the same ($249), and at most $299. If specs are weaker, price could be lower," Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter told GamesIndustry.
"Assuming they are close to PS4, they are making porting of games easy for developers (and inexpensive), and I think they will get a lot of third party support. If the specs are weaker, porting will be costly and less likely to occur. So my 'prediction' is that if specs and pricing are similar to PS4, the Switch will get a lot of third party support and will be immensely successful. If specs are weaker or if pricing is too high, sales will suffer because of lack of third-party support or because of uncompetitive pricing."
Dr. Serkan Toto agrees with Pachter that the threshold for success is a $299 price tag: "They must find a way to release the Switch at US$299 to stand a chance, that's the threshold," said Toto. "It's not impossible by offering the device in multiple versions, i.e. without the home dock. 'Hardcore' video game fans can, at US$299, already get fantastic devices from Sony and Microsoft. The portable gaming use case, at scale, has been taken over by smart devices."
SuperData's van Dreunen added that a price under $300 and bundled with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild or Mario Kart will help sell units. "I'm hoping they'll keep it under $300, ideally bundled with a Zelda or Mario Kart," he said. "Anything over that will severely limit its market potential," said Dreunen.
Piers Harding-Rolls, head of games research at IHS, added, "The reveal suggests it is competing more significantly with traditional home consoles, but with the edge of mobility. Pricing will need to be competitive in this context and anything over $300 may not be a convincing proposition.
"The new console shares a number of design, positioning and component similarities with Nvidia's Shield tablet. As such it is likely that Switch will be capable of displaying 4K video content and judging by the pricing of the original Shield tablet is likely to sit in the $250-$300 range."
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel dedicated to gaming Let's Plays and tutorials. You can contact the author at wdangelo@vgchartz.com or on Twitter @TrunksWD.
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$250 for just the tablet and Joycon (with a wall charger), $300 for the set with a dock and a Switch Pro controller. Also, sell docks for $70 a piece. I'd love to be able to set one up at my parents and just dock when I get there.
70 a piece for a dock? Shouldn't it be way cheaper for that if it is just a charger and hdmi output?
i agree
$299 and $399 for the console with all the components a pro controller and zelda.
Getting all of that for $399 sounds very reasonable and would be interested in that.
400$ with a physical copy of Zelda BOTW and NS Pro controller?? that would be an amazing bundle tbh.
Oh VGChartz news, don't ever change. That's a sensible bundle.
Yes, I would get this bundle!
$300 with game would be reasonable. I think it will do well like this.
I think Nintendo should be aiming for $249. But $299 seems likely.
Agreed. It needs to go for $250-$299 but people can't expect more than 32 GB of internal storage if this is the case. Things cost guys.
Nintendo has no interest in taking any more losses. Kimishima made sure to say that Switch most likely won't be sold at a loss. The Wii U screwed their financials because of that loss. Most games will be concealed on at most a 64gb card and I think that's fair. Also there might be an SD card slot . There's 1TB SD cards as well so, I think storage won't be an issue unless the consumer makes it an issue.
There is most likely going to be a SD or micro SD slot.
I think the majority agrees on this. 299€ seems reasonable, considering it's not going to be as powerful as the upcoming console upgrades.
Can someone translate this to AUD? Or tell me whats the price of the 3DS there.
Translates to 392.99
In Denmark, the prices usually go somewhat higher because labor prices and VAT. I'm fully expecting to pay at least $400 for the Switch.
I think 249,- is the sweet spot but 299,- would sell I agree everything above this is valueing it higher then a PS4 or Xbox One and that is going to be a hard sell to many.
While i agree, i doubt they can sell it for that little. Theres a screen in there and new portable tech for the console and the dock. It can't be cheap to manufacture.
I put the ceiling at $349.99. Depending on power of course.
I agree with Pachter on this one! I've also predicted a price point of $249.99
Bullshit. They could just a lot more. Especially given Nintendo's preference for not selling systems at a loss.
Mind you, they are competing with consoles whose prices have already had time to drop, so the pressure's on admittedly.
My tipping point for a new console is $250 and 3 games I really want. It's when I bought a Wiiu and why I still don't own a ps4.
Looks like my Xbox One stands alone for a while.
...We shall see...
Only negativity trolls beyond this line. Don't read further down.
I have an idea a normal dock console for 249.99 and for a scd dock 299.99
Hey, we need more folks to down vote all comments. This is awesome!
It's like a virtual disease. :-)
i would pay 400 idc
I don't understand why you got downvoted? Some people would pay the double for a phone
If i do buy one it wont be until its $200
I guess you will just have to wait then, my son. lol
Even if is as powerful as ps4 will not be easy to port from ARM to x86 my dear specialist. People will buy for the Nintendo first party, that is the only things that matter. Since nintendo will have only one console, I believe they will be able to churn twice as many games.
Holy crap, nine posts below the voting threshold?
Hoping for $229. Not for me, but for Nintendos own good. They need a big seller after Wii U. $299 would probably sell less than they expect.
Nintendo will probably price the charger separately like they do with the latest 3DS XL and not include a hard drive to keep the cost low.
i agree
So you think if it has the same power as a PS4, the 9 inch HD TV you get with it should be free? That same HDTV that can be used anywhere you want. Seems they could sell that battery operated HDTV for $200 by itself.
For 300$, it needs to:
Be at least on X1 performance level (which I don't believe)
Come with the Pro Controller or at very least the Joy-Con attachment thingy
_ Come with Zelda BOTW
If it does all that, I can see it work, take 1 single thing out of this list & IMO it will flop harder than the Virtual Boy!!!
Since when can we make a tablet as capable for gaming as a PS4. It might be able to render a tflop, but if RAM, the CPU and bandwidth are lacking it is in no way comparable.
Nintendo will probably price the charger separately like they do with the latest 3DS XL and not include a hard drive to keep the cost low.
Those bezels, why?
Talking with most of my friends, none of them wanted to spend more then 200 for it. It is a hybrid, but the look is mobile, so I don't think it will sell at this price. The 3ds had trouble justifying 250, so I dont' think this would do well at 299.99.
that doesn't make any sense.... mobile things are more expensive.
I thought it was based off what components were in it, not whether it's portable or not? That being said keep in mind the consumer will think this is a hand held not a hybrid, and if the 3DS and Vita had trouble justifying 250, how would the Switch justify 350?
