nintendo switch 2 is celebrating. Not because it has been on the market for almost a year (it will be on June 5 and must be near of the 20 million machines sold, an absolute outrage), but because Nintendo has just announced what has been expected for a few months. Nintendo Switch 2 will increase in price in all markets, being another example of an unusual situation in the world of console hardware.
Because this generation is the first in which a console is cheaper at launch than after years of being on the market.
In short. Through a publication On its website, the Japanese company has detailed how the new prices of Nintendo Switch 2 look. In the United States and Canada, prices without taxes will rise from 449.99 US dollars and 629.99 Canadian dollars to 499.99 and 679.99 dollars respectively. In Europe, where taxes are included, the recommended retail price will increase from 469.99 euros to 499.99 euros.
That is, the price of the console alone is almost the same as the launch price plus ‘Mario Kart World’. In Japan, the prices of both the Nintendo Switch 2 Japanese Edition (which was cheaper than the Western one due to protectionist policies) and the Nintendo Switch OLED, Nintendo Switch and Switch Lite also increased. In Japan the measure will become effective on May 25, while in the rest of the world it will apply from September 1.
Please understand. It pains me to refer to the famous phrase of an industry genius like Satoru Iwata (who was the beloved president of Nintendo), but in the press release, the Japanese company commented that they apologize for the impact of the price revision, but that they deeply appreciate our understanding.
The problem is that, here, Nintendo is not entirely to blame. The company points to the “impact of several changes in market conditions that will extend in the medium and long term,” and that only means one thing: the blow of the component crisis reaches Nintendo. Since all NAND chip manufacturers are focused on creating chips for AI, there are no components left for the consumer market.
It is difficult for a user to access an SSD, an HDD or a RAM stick, but for device manufacturers the costs also increase. We are seeing it in mobile phones, computers and even in an Apple that confessed that they had been able to avoid the first wave of the crisis, but that they can no longer continue to cushion the blow. In fact, several Apple options are disappearing from its store… and then we have Valve unable to launch its Steam Machine due to this crisis.
what a generation…The price increase for Nintendo Switch 2 does not occur in a vacuum. PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series were launched at the end of 2020 (in a nascent semiconductor crisis, too) and have since revised their price upwards on several occasions. Both reached 500 euros, but if now you want a PS5 You must pay 649.99 euros. And if you want the PS5 Pro, about 899.99 euros.
The same thing has been happening with Xboxbut in the end it is something that makes less noise because Microsoft’s situation this generation of consoles is… complicated. We’ll see how things go with their new machine, a Project Helix whose CEO has just pointed out that it will be conditioned by the current market situation. It’s not going to be cheap, wow.
Anomaly. Gone are the times when, by pure logic, consoles improved with the passing of the generation while they became cheaper. At first, the hardware is expensive and it costs companies more to manufacture it, but over the years these components become cheaper and improve in efficiency. Manufacturers were creating smaller consoles, with better features in some cases and, above all, more accessible.
The current generation breaks with that logic because we are chaining component crises with market crises and, currently, both at the same time. That’s why it was logical to expect the price increase for Nintendo Switch 2: it was just a matter of time. The “good” news is that it seems that Nintendo will not give the order to retailers to increase the recommended price until September. The bad news is that the stock may not arrive until that date.
By the way, in Japan they are also raising the price of Nintendo Switch Online… and there is no RAM crisis to justify it.
In Xataka | In Xataka | The price of RAM has skyrocketed and the best example to see the debacle is a 100 euro PC: the Raspberry Pi
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings