In a new interview with Kyoto Shimbun (translated by Nintendo Patents Watch), Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the company is closely monitoring the ongoing situation with RAM prices and tariffs with regard to Switch 2’s profit margins. As you may be aware, the global economy is currently suffering a RAM shortage thanks to AI data centers gobbling up hardware meant for consumers. Hardware manufacturer Micron even left the consumer market entirely, dedicating its business solely to AI. This shortage has caused prices of computer hardware to skyrocket, which will obviously have an impact on console hardware in the not so distant future.
When asked about the challenges Nintendo faces concerning Nintendo Switch 2’s lower overall profit margin, Furukawa stated, “Hardware profitability depends on factors like component procurement conditions, cost reductions through mass production, and the impact of exchange rates and tariffs. It’s difficult to generalize. Fundamentally, we aim to address this by advancing component procurement over the medium to long term.”
According to Furukawa, the increasing price of RAM shouldn’t have any immediate effect on the company as Nintendo buys its components based on “medium-to-long-term business plans.” Similar to what we’ve heard from Sony, it seems Nintendo anticipated a shortage and worked to prevent it ahead of schedule. Whether or not the Switch 2’s price will increase in the future, Furukawa said, “I cannot comment on hypotheticals.”
As for how the tariffs placed on Japan by president Donald Trump have impacted business, Furukawa noted that the start of Nintendo’s latest fiscal year did see a projected deficit of several tens of billions of yen. “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 stated. This was seen not in Switch 2 hardware costs, but Switch 1 hardware and peripherals for both consoles.
There’s a lot more information covered in the interview, such as Nintendo’s plans for animated features and even an anime, but it seems that no one can be sure where the global economy is going right now. At the very least, the price of a Switch 2 should remain stable for the time being.
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Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
