While Nintendo has priced the upcoming Switch 2 at $449.99, the company has been quiet about the tariffs announced by the United States. In light of the tariffs, however, Nintendo has also put pre-orders for the consoles, which were supposed to go live over the weekend, on pause.
It is worth noting that, while Nintendo is yet to make any announcements about the matter, it is likely that the Switch 2 will get some sort of increase to its price tag. This is because of the console’s manufacturing process taking place in Vietnam, where the US has levied a 46 percent tariff. This would significantly raise the price of the console in the country.
While the US has more recently announced a pause on the tariff plan for some countries, the Switch 2 will still have to contend with a 10 percent tariff in the country. According to Bloomberg, Bernstein analyst Robin Zhu believes that Nintendo will likely go ahead with its $449.99 price tag if the 10 percent tariffs were the only thing to deal with. However, Zhu expects Nintendo to raise the price by quite a bit if the 46 percent tariffs are levied.
“Nintendo probably keeps pricing at $450 and just takes the hit on margin,” said Zhu of the 10 percent tariffs. “At 46% Vietnam tariffs, I expected them to raise by $50 to $100.”
Former Nintendo PR managers Kit Ellis and Krysta Lang have noted that Nintendo would benefit quite a bit if it were to “eat the cost,” earning the company quite a bit of good will amongst fans in light of the controversial high price tags for the console and its games.
“They can do it, they can eat it, it would not make a huge dent in them,” said Ellis. Yang responded by noting that the high costs of games like Mario Kart World has already lost Nintendo a fair bit of trust with its fans.
“They have lost so much trust already with the current negative sentiment around price, and around what they’re doing with the games and charging the high price for Mario Kart World, this would repair some goodwill with their current fan base,” said Yang.
When it comes to software, Nintendo has been steadfast about its new $80 price tag for Mario Kart World. In an interview, Nintendo of America VP of Product and Player Experience spoke about how the company believes that Mario Kart World will definitely be worth its price. He also spoke about the value offered by the Switch 2 Edition releases for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
Despites pre-orders for the console being halted for the time being, the Nintendo Switch 2 is slated to hit store shelves on June 5. The console will also be available in a bundle alongside Mario Kart World, priced at $499.99. Among several games available for the title at launch will also be the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which will explain all the features of the console to players, and will be priced at $9.99.
