Nintendo says it is not considering another Switch 2 price hike, even as memory shortages, weaker hardware sales, and holiday buying pressure reshape the console market.
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Nintendo’s current answer is no, but the pressure has not vanished
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa told investors the company is “not considering additional changes” to the Switch 2’s price, according to Reuters reporting cited by The Verge, Polygon, Nintendo Life, and other outlets. Furukawa also said Nintendo remains able to secure “sufficient” memory quantities, despite an industrywide shortage that has pushed up the cost of game hardware.
That is the strongest piece of news for anyone watching for a Nintendo Switch 2 price increase before the holidays: Nintendo’s current public stance is that another hike is not being planned. The tension is that the statement lands after the console already became more expensive earlier in 2026, while Nintendo’s latest financials show weaker hardware momentum and lower profit.
The current US price is being reported with slight outlet-to-outlet variation. The Verge says the earlier $50 increase brought the Switch 2’s starting price to $499. VGC and Toy People describe the US price as $500. Nintendo Life says the increase was $50 in the US and £24 in the UK. Those are not fundamentally different claims so much as rounded and region-specific reporting, but they matter for search-weary buyers trying to pin down the actual Nintendo Switch 2 price before checkout.
The larger point is clearer: Nintendo has already raised the price once, and Furukawa’s latest comment is meant to calm fears of a second Switch 2 price hike during a volatile hardware cycle.
Memory supply is the key detail, not a side note
The reason this pricing update has weight is that Nintendo tied its stance to memory supply. Furukawa said, via Reuters, that there had been no major change in the memory situation and that Nintendo was in position to secure the quantities it needs. In plain terms, Nintendo is saying the component squeeze that has hit the wider tech industry has not forced it into another immediate Switch 2 price increase.
That does not mean memory costs are fixed, or that the shortage is over. The Verge attributes the ongoing RAM shortage partly to demand from AI data centers, and notes that the same pressure has contributed to a wave of tech price increases. VGC also points to warnings that memory shortages could continue into 2027. The risk, then, is not theoretical. It is a live supply chain issue sitting under console pricing, manufacturing plans, and retailer expectations.
There is another memory story running in parallel, and it should not be blended carelessly with the Switch 2’s system RAM. Toy People reports that Macronix International, a major supplier of ROM chips for original Switch cartridges, is gradually scaling back its ROM business as it redirects capacity toward products such as NOR and NAND flash memory for data center demand. According to Toy People, Macronix said ROM revenue fell 39% year over year and represented 5% of total revenue, down from 26% in the same period last year.
That Macronix shift is a physical media supply-chain signal, not direct proof that Switch 2 console prices will rise. Still, it shows how the same hunger for memory components can press on gaming from different angles: console bill of materials on one side, cartridge and physical-game economics on the other.
Nintendo is holding price while hardware sales cool
The pricing reassurance arrives during a rougher quarter for Nintendo hardware. The Verge reports that Nintendo said Switch 2 sales dropped 37.4% year over year. Nintendo Life similarly cites a decline of more than 37%, while VGC describes a 37% fall. Operation Sports includes a CNBC post saying Nintendo sold 2.67 million Switch 2 units in the three months ended September 30 and describing the drop as 41% from the same period. The exact percentage varies by report and framing, but every cited account points in the same direction: sales slowed sharply after a very strong early period and a price rise.
Reuters, as cited by Polygon and My Nintendo News, reported that Nintendo’s operating profit declined 16% to 73.9 billion yen in the quarter, below analyst estimates. Nintendo Life says investor concern followed the results, but also reports that Nintendo’s full-year forecast remains unchanged, with the company still expecting to shift over 16 million Switch 2 units. Polygon gives the figure more specifically as 16.5 million.
That combination explains Nintendo’s delicate posture. A second price increase could protect margins if component costs rise, but it could also further cool demand at the exact point when the company wants a broad holiday installed base. Holding the line gives Nintendo a cleaner retail message for late 2026: the console is already pricier than at launch, but buyers are not being told to brace for another immediate jump.
VGC adds one important qualifier: Nintendo says the Switch 2 is still outselling its predecessor on a comparable basis. That softens the sales-drop headline, because the console can be down year over year and still ahead of the original Switch’s early trajectory. The market is not collapsing. It is normalizing under higher prices and tighter component supply.
The console market makes Nintendo’s stance look unusually defensive
Nintendo’s choice to emphasize price stability lands differently because Sony and Microsoft have also raised hardware prices this generation. VGC says every current-generation console is now more expensive than it was at launch, including PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, which both launched in 2020. Polygon reports the PS5 is now $150 above its launch price, while the Xbox Series X is up $300 with an official price of $799.99. The Verge reports that Microsoft has raised Xbox Series X/S prices multiple times, with the Series S starting price moving from $299 to $499, and that PS5 pricing has also been hit by increases.
Against that backdrop, Nintendo is trying to preserve one of its traditional strengths: relative affordability. Operation Sports frames Switch 2 as the most affordable current option among the major consoles, even after its own $50 increase. That affordability is no longer as clean as it was in the original Switch era, when Nintendo’s hybrid hardware was separated from PlayStation and Xbox by a much wider price and power gap. Still, if the Switch 2 stays near $499 while rival hardware climbs higher, Nintendo’s value argument becomes easier to make at retail.
There is a craft angle here that Nintendo understands better than most platform holders. Its hardware does not need to win a brute-force specification contest if the library is tuned around the machine. For platformers, cozy sims, handheld-first adventures, and Nintendo’s own dense mechanical showcases, the question is less whether the box has the biggest ceiling and more whether the experience feels considered. Price stability helps keep that argument intact. A second hike would make every frame-rate compromise, every upgrade fee, and every late port feel sharper to buyers.
Holiday 2026 now turns on games, bundles, and stock rather than a confirmed new hike
For buyers waiting through the Nintendo Switch 2 holiday 2026 window, the practical guidance is simple but not painless: there is no confirmed second price increase, and Nintendo says memory supply is sufficient for its current plans. There is also no sourced indication in the provided reports of an imminent official price cut. If you were delaying only because you feared another immediate hike, Furukawa’s statement reduces that pressure. If you were waiting for a cheaper entry point, the sources do not give a reason to expect one.
Software is the more immediate pull. VGC reports that The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Remake has launched as a Switch 2 exclusive and is already the highest-rated game of the year on Metacritic. Polygon quotes analyst Serkan Toto as saying the Zelda game should sell well and give Nintendo a solid quarter, while adding that the company will not release blockbuster titles until the next fiscal year.
That leaves the holiday decision sitting between current desire and future library depth. If Zelda is the game you want now, or if your household is buying around multiplayer, family play, or portable-first use during the holidays, Nintendo’s price stance makes the purchase feel less like a race against a new MSRP. If your interest is tied to the next wave, Polygon lists Metroid Ravenous for January 28, 2027, with other Switch 2 exclusives slated for 2027 including Xenoblade Genesis, The Duskbloods, Pokémon Waves and Winds, Onyx: The Dark Grip, and Kirby and the World Beyond.
The missing piece is retail availability. Nintendo’s memory comment addresses component procurement, not every store shelf, limited edition, or accessory. Nintendo Life’s reader comments, for instance, include interest in Zelda-themed hardware and accessories, but those comments are community reaction rather than official stock guidance. Buyers chasing a specific colorway, controller, or bundle still need to watch retailers rather than rely on the broader “sufficient memory” statement.
The careful read: no new hike planned, no permanent promise made
Nintendo’s latest pricing stance is good news, but it is narrow good news. The confirmed fact is that Furukawa says Nintendo is not currently considering additional Switch 2 price changes and can secure enough memory. The unconfirmed part is everything beyond that: how long the stance holds, whether component costs worsen into 2027, how physical game production shifts affect publishers, and whether slower hardware sales change Nintendo’s strategy later.
That distinction matters because “currently” is doing real work here. Nintendo is not promising that the Switch 2 will never rise again. It is saying that, under the memory conditions and procurement position it sees now, another price hike is not on the table.
For holiday buyers, that is still useful. The Switch 2 hardware supply story looks less like a looming MSRP shock and more like a test of Nintendo’s ability to keep enough consoles, games, and accessories flowing while protecting profit in a hostile component market. If you want the system for this year’s releases, the confirmed pricing signal supports buying on your own timing rather than panic-buying. If you are holding out for a bargain, the reports offer caution: Nintendo is trying to maintain the current Nintendo Switch 2 price, not publicly preparing to lower it.