Why Nintendo CAN'T Raise the Switch Console Price
Channel: Video Game Story Time
Date: 2022-09-02

Life is getting more expensive, but one thing is staying just as affordable as ever: the Nintendo Switch. Okay, so maybe this isn't all that affordable to everyone, but in the light of Sony announcing a European price increase for the PlayStation 5, a Nintendo spokesperson insists that the Switch will not receive a similar price hike in the near future.

This is likely in part because trying to make small increases to the price of Nintendo devices has gone very poorly in the past. The 3DS is proof of how a small change to a trade price can have wide-reaching negative effects.

Reggie Fils-Aime explained in his autobiography, Disrupting the Game, how Satoru Iwata wanted a $219 or $229 price point for the 3DS, but this would have created problems with retailers, who would have increased the price to maximise their small profit margin. Thus, Nintendo consoles are always sold at a recommended retail price in multiples of $50 or 50 Euros (this rule doesn't apply in all markets, for example, Britain).

That said, Nintendo may eventually need to recoup some higher costs from manufacturing and shipping, as well as the challenges of unfavourable exchange rates due to high inflation throughout Europe.

Thus far, Sony has suffered worst from this, due to the aggressive price point at which the PlayStation 5 is sold. What happens next is anybody's guess.

Lots of love,
BretonStripes and Kotor

Sources:
Disrupting the Game by Reggie Fils-Aime
https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-says-it-has-no-plans-to-increase-the-switch-price/
https://www.eurogamer.net/nintendo-responds-to-playstation-price-hike 
https://www.independent.co.uk/tech/ps5-playstation-5-sony-buy-b2135874.html
https://www.sony.com/en/SonyInfo/IR/library/presen/er/pdf/22q1_sonyspeech.pdf