Switch 2 Price Hike Likely in 2026 Amid Rising RAM and SSD Costs

The Switch 2 hasn’t even had time to warm up in living rooms, and already the economic storm clouds are stacking overhead. Research firm Niko Partners slipped a warning into their annual industry outlook: Nintendo is likely to raise the global price of the Switch 2 sometime in 2026. It’s the kind of prediction that feels like a footnote until you realize it’s basically a flare shot into the sky.

And the uncomfortable truth?

The signs have been screaming for months. The hardware market is turning into a pressure cooker, and Nintendo is standing dead center with a smile, a shrug, and a bill coming due.

Nintendo Expected to Raise Switch 2 Price in 2026

If you want to know why a price hike is even on the table, follow the silicon trail. RAM and SSD prices are spiking, and it’s not because gamers suddenly got picky. AI data centers are inhaling memory like a black hole with a caffeine addiction.

Demand is exploding. Supply is limping. And the fallout is hitting everything with a circuit board:

• Niko Partners says key component costs jumped 41% in Q4 2025.
• PC Gamer is already warning SSDs are about to get pricier.
• Even the Raspberry Pi 5 — the hobbyist darling — is seeing bumps.
• Goldman Sachs expects DRAM and SSD prices to surge through 2026.

This isn’t a blip. It’s a trendline with teeth.

And Nintendo, a company famously allergic to razor‑thin margins, isn’t built to eat these costs forever.

Tariffs Are Pouring Gasoline on the Fire — Literally and Figuratively

Manufacturing in China, Japan, and Vietnam is getting more expensive thanks to tariffs. Nintendo absorbed those costs for the Switch 2 launch — a nice gesture, sure, but not a long‑term strategy.

Shuntaro Furukawa already said the quiet part out loud:

Nintendo recognizes tariffs as a cost, and they’ll pass them on when they have to.

Translation:

“We tried to be nice. Don’t get attached.”

The Macro Picture Is Brutal — and Nintendo’s Not Dodging This One

Inflation. Supply chain wobbling. Global economic weirdness. It’s the same cocktail that pushed Sony and Microsoft to announce PS5 and Xbox price increases for 2025.

Niko Partners frames Nintendo’s situation as part of a broader industry correction — a mid‑generation reality check where hardware simply costs more to build than it did in 2020.

The Switch 2 isn’t floating above any of this.

The Sneaky Strategy: Kill the $449 Base Model

Here’s where things get cynical.

Niko Partners doesn’t think Nintendo will slap a higher MSRP on the box. That’s too loud. Too screenshot‑able. Too easy for fans to rage‑share.

Instead, they predict Nintendo will:

• Discontinue the $449 standalone model
• Leave only $499+ bundles, likely with a game included

It’s the classic corporate sleight‑of‑hand:

“We didn’t raise the price. We just stopped selling the cheaper one.”

Sony and Microsoft already pulled this move. Nintendo has every incentive to follow.

It raises the effective price without technically raising the price.

And annoyingly, it works.

Furukawa Is Playing It Cool — But He Knows the Pressure Is Real

Nintendo’s president isn’t confirming anything, but he’s not exactly slamming the door shut either. His recent comments read like someone trying to keep the ship steady while the waves get taller:

• The memory market is “very volatile.”
• Long‑term RAM procurement is planned, but volatility is a problem.
• Tariffs may need to be passed on.
• Pricing scenarios are “hypothetical,” but hardware adoption is critical.

He’s threading a needle: reassure investors, avoid spooking consumers, and keep every option open.

Nintendo Has Already Shown Its Hand

If you want to know what a company will do tomorrow, look at what it did yesterday.

Switch 2 Launch  

Nintendo held the line at $449 in the US — but quietly raised accessory prices before launch.

Original Switch Price Hike (2025)  

They bumped the entire lineup:

• Switch: $299 → $339
• Switch OLED: $349 → $399
• Switch Lite: $199 → $229

Reason given: “market conditions.”

Nintendo isn’t shy about raising prices when the math demands it.

The Industry Is Shifting Whether Fans Like It or Not

Memory shortages aren’t just hitting consoles. They’re hitting:

• PC hardware
• Raspberry Pi
• Handhelds
• Cloud infrastructure

Basically, anything with a chip in it is getting squeezed like your breakfast oj.

Meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft normalizing mid‑generation price hikes gives Nintendo cover. Nobody wants to be first. But nobody minds being third.

Consumers Are Already Feeling the Pinch

The Switch 2 is barely six months old, and some players already think $449 is steep — especially when:

• The original Switch launched as a budget‑friendly device
• The Steam Deck undercuts it on raw power
• Launch exclusives were limited
• Stick drift still haunts the hardware like a poltergeist

Add a price increase to that stew and you get frustration, not hype.

And investors aren’t helping. Nintendo’s stock is down 33%, which means the pressure to stabilize margins is only getting louder.

A Switch 2 Price Increase Looks Practically Inevitable

Niko Partners isn’t guessing. They’re reading the economic tea leaves:

• Tariffs
• RAM and SSD price spikes
• 41% component cost increases
• Inflation
• Industry‑wide price hikes
• Investor pressure
• Nintendo’s own pricing history

Put all that together, and the conclusion writes itself:

The Switch 2 is almost certainly getting more expensive in 2026.

Maybe not with a new MSRP.

Maybe not with a press release.

But it is coming.

The console market is sliding into an era where hardware costs more to make, more to ship, and more to keep alive. And Nintendo — the company that built its empire on affordable hardware — is about to face the same reality as everyone else.

If they pull the plug on the Switch 2 $449 model, don’t act surprised.

The economics have been screaming about it for months.