Nintendo is ‘actively assessing’ the impact of US tariffs on the Switch 2’s price

Nintendo unveiled its highly anticipated Switch 2 console last week, on the same day President Donald Trump announced that the US would impose sweeping global tariffs on goods imported into the country, sending shockwaves through the technology sector, which was hit the hardest.

Trump held firm on his aggressive global tariff plans, with an initial unilateral 10 per cent tariff going into effect on Saturday. Wall Street had anticipated some progress in negotiations between the administration and other countries, as well as a possible delay in reciprocal tariffs slated for April 9. However, the US president said he was not considering a pause on the global import tariffs to allow for negotiations with other countries.

Nintendo, the world’s oldest and most respected company in the video game industry, is finding itself in a tough spot, especially at a time when the Japanese gaming giant is releasing a new console after 8 long years. The Switch 2 is the successor to the original Switch, which has sold 150 million units worldwide and is the third-best-selling console of all time.

Nintendo is not only a dominant video game maker, but the company also has significant influence in popular culture. US tariffs make Nintendo vulnerable and put the Switch 2 launch in jeopardy, given that North America accounted for more than 40 per cent of its sales during the holiday season. In light of Trump’s tariff plan, Nintendo has had to delay US pre-orders for the Switch 2 “in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.”

Although Nintendo has shifted much of its production to Vietnam and Cambodia, away from China, under Trump’s new plan, China is subject to a 54 per cent tariff, while Cambodia and Vietnam are subject to 49 per cent and 46 per cent tariffs, respectively. Apple, another major consumer-facing company, too faces the same situation, as traffic could increase the price of the iPhone by hundreds of dollars. The company’s stock has lost about 20 per cent of its value over the past three trading days, wiping out almost $640 billion in market cap.

Companies like Nintendo and Apple will either have to pay those fees, which will reduce their profits, or indirectly pass those added costs on to customers by raising prices.

Many fear that if Nintendo increases the price of the Switch 2, it would alienate consumers from buying its latest console, which already costs a hefty $450 for the base variant, with must-have games priced upwards of $70. In its defence, Nintendo justified the higher price of the Switch 2 owning to cutting-edge hardware and features it will launch with. He also commented on why the $80 price for Mario Kart World, a flagship title for the Switch 2, is right. However, the Nintendo US President suggested that $80 isn’t going to become the new standard for first-party Switch 2 games.

“What you see right there is variable pricing,” Bowser told The Washington Post. “We’ll look at each game, really look at the development that’s gone into the game, the breadth and depth of the gameplay, if you will, the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences. Those are all factors, and there’s many more that go into consideration of what is the right price point for the game. So I think you can anticipate that there will be variable pricing, and we haven’t set a benchmark,” the exec said.

Nintendo has still not announced when pre-orders may go live for the US, but the company says the release date of June 5 remains unchanged for now.