Niko Partners Predicts Switch 2 Price Increase in 2026 - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 20 January 2026 / 3,334 Views
Niko Partners has released a list of 10 predictions for 2026 that includes Nintendo increasing the global price of the Nintendo Switch 2.
"The Nintendo Switch 2 is competitively priced compared to the PS5 and Xbox Series X, after the latter consoles witnessed price hikes last year," reads the prediction.
"But 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. Nintendo chose to maintain its $449 entry price last year despite the introduction of tariffs impacting production in China, Japan and Vietnam. More recently, increased demand for AI data centers has pushed RAM and storage prices up.
"While we do anticipate Nintendo to increase the price of the Switch 2, they may opt to discontinue the $449 SKU and only sell a $499 or higher bundle SKU instead."
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa last week stated Nintendo is monitoring the higher RAM prices and the tariff situation in the US.
"Hardware profitability depends on factors like component procurement conditions, cost reductions through mass production, and the impact of exchange rates and tariffs," said Furukawa at the time. "It’s difficult to generalize. Fundamentally, we aim to address this by advancing component procurement over the medium to long term."
He added, "We procure from suppliers based on our medium- to long-term business plans, but the current memory market is very volatile. There is no immediate impact on earnings, but it is something we must monitor closely."
Furukawa on the high tariffs said there was a negative impact due to the high tariffs placed on Japan and many other countries by the US.
"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," he said. "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."
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 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can follow the author on Bluesky.
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Screw AI and screw Trump.
First it destroys the economy then it destroys the world.
Turns out the real "A.I." apocalypse wasn't something like out of Terminator or The Matrix, but rather something far more boring yet just as terrifying in its own way: permanent mass unemployment, accelerated environmental degradation, and the deliberate destruction of human creativity, all for the sake of short-term profit.
Thanks for nothing, Donnie.
Good thing I got my Switch 2 at launch.
I am not particularly surprised.
Tariffs are 15% for where Nintendo is producing switch.
Hence, the price will rise from 450 dollars to 519 dollars.
Way to go, America. -_-
I expect the Steam Machine price to increase too and we haven't even heard about it's price yet. Screw AI.
Given the shortages and tariffs, I wouldn't be surprised at all.
That would be good news. After greedy nintendo got rid of players choice/ nintendo select, the switch 2 need to fall as that the only way they will bring back fairer price on their overrated games!!
Man that'd be wild. The price is already a noose hanging around Switch 2's throat now that the launch hype has faded. The last move Nintendo should ever be making is actually raising the price! But I guess these are the crazy times we are living in.
If so, then Nintendo may rush the release of a Nintendo switch 2 lite to counteract the effects of the price hike.
That's good, I only have a small position in Nintendo stock, but it needs to go up.
If they keep raising prices, people WILL eventually stop buying their console.
That's already started. Sales of the Switch 2 everywhere except Japan are currently pretty bad and have been for months. This is the time for Nintendo to do a 180 and start playing competitive again, not the time for them to turn Nintendo into a luxury item.
and yet contrary to your statement, it is the fastest selling console of all time 7 months in, and dominated the sales in the America's this holiday season.
