The Nintendo Switch Isn't Getting a Price Cut Anytime Soon
Nintendo has no plans to cut the price of its Switch console until April 2024 at the earliest, according to company president Shuntaro Furukawa.
“Currently, there are no plans to reduce the price of our hardware during this fiscal year,” he said during a Q&A session with investors following the release of the entertainment giant’s most recent earnings report.
“On the other hand, while we also have no plans to raise prices, the yen continues to be weak, and procurement costs remain high, so we will continue to monitor the situation carefully.”
The Nintendo boss acknowledged that the prices of certain production materials had fallen, but that it would take time for this to be reflected in manufacturing costs, and that the overall costs of manufacturing the Switch “remain high”.
The recent financial report saw Switch sales fall for the second year in a row, however, with a further 15% year on year reduction in sales forecast for the coming financial year. Furukawa noted some upward swings coming too though, such as the success of the Super Mario Bros. movie and today's highly anticipated launch of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.
“In the history of our dedicated video game platform business, we have never anticipated sales of 15 million units of hardware and 180 million units of software in the seventh year for a system, so we see ourselves as having entered uncharted territory,” continued Furukawa.
The Nintendo president also re-iterated that the prices of future first party Switch games would be decided on a case-by-case basis, and that the $10 price increase of Tears of the Kingdom over its predecessor Breath of the Wild didn’t indicate a general increase in the price of software.
During the accompanying investor presentation, Furukawa also revealed that Nintendo wasn’t considering new hardware in the form of a successor to the Switch until April 2024 at the earliest. In the mean time be sure to check out IGN’s list of the best deals out there for the Nintendo Switch for May 2023.
Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer
Source: IGN
