Nintendo has ruled out a price hike for its ever-popular Switch games console despite ongoing demand and component shortages.
Asked by Nikkei whether price increases were an option when Nintendo Switch demand was exceeding supply, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa said “We’re not considering that at this point”, and that “In order to offer unique entertainment to a wide range of customers, we want to avoid pricing people out.”
As Furukawa points out, Nintendo’s competition is more than just rival gaming machines, but rather “the variety of entertainment in the world”.
Furukawa also points out that a large part of the Nintendo business is software, so keeping a competitively priced Switch console serves to “maintain the momentum of our overall business”.
The interview goes on to highlight how a weak yen is eating into the profitability of the Switch. Furukawa admits that the Switch OLED is less profitable than the company’s other models.
However, he also points out that a large share of the company’s Switch sales come from abroad, which makes the weak local currency into an asset when viewed from a certain perspective.
One thing Furakawa refused to guarantee was that his company would hit its Switch sales targets for the year. “All I can say is that we’ll try to keep up sales at the same pace,” he said, before pointing to the upcoming release of Splatoon 3 in September and Pokemon Scarlet and Violet in November as potential aids in meeting those targets.
Back at the end of July, Sony refused to rule out a PS5 price rise in 2023, while Microsoft has been quiet on the subject with its own Xbox Series X and Series S consoles.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
