(Credit: Joseph Maldonado)
Nintendo's president says a recent increase in the price of RAM has "no immediate impact" on the company's earnings, but he believes it's something it "must monitor closely."
Shuntaro Furukawa spoke about Nintendo's profits in an interview with Kyoto Shimbun. A machine-translated version of the interview, posted by VGC, quotes Furukawa as saying the current memory market is “very volatile."
Furukawa said, “Hardware profitability depends on factors like component procurement conditions, cost reductions through mass production, and the impact of exchange rates and tariffs.”
Nintendo's president wouldn't comment on the possibility of a price increase to any of its hardware as he said all situations remain "hypotheticals.”
The Switch 2 price has stayed the same since the initial announcement in April 2025. Other Nintendo hardware, such as select accessories and older Switch models, saw price increases in August last year.
• Components are procured from suppliers based on Nintendo’s medium to long term business plan. The current memory price has no immediate impact on their financial performance. However, “we must monitor the situation closely.” (Related post: ninpatentswatch.wordpress.com/2026/01/05/s...) 3/
[image or embed]— Nintendo Patents Watch (@ninpatentswatch.bsky.social) January 11, 2026 at 3:49 PM
Furukawa also spoke about the impact of tariffs on Nintendo. He said, “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.”
“On the other hand, this is a crucial period for our game business as we promote the adoption of new hardware and maintain the momentum of our platforms. We are working on this while carefully considering the situation.”
These comments suggest the brand won’t increase any of its prices immediately, but it’s an option left on the table if Nintendo's profits change at a later date. If you’ve been considering buying a Switch 2, you may find purchasing one sooner rather than later will help you avoid any future increases.
On the other hand, price increases on rival consoles, such as the latest PlayStation and Xbox models, have seen each brand announce changes earlier than they're enacted. If Nintendo does similar for the Switch 2, it may mean you can pick up the console before the price officially changes.
Back in November, Furukawa told investors, “While we are aware that the costs of various materials are rising, we also anticipate some areas where cost reduction may be achieved for Nintendo Switch 2 through ongoing mass production efforts.”