Don’t wait for the Nintendo Switch’s price to drop, because it likely won’t

By Gabe Gurwin November 12, 2019

Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Nintendo Switch was released more than two years ago, and it has been sold at the same price for that entire time: $300. Apart from a few sales and promotions, you won’t find a new Switch system for cheaper than that, even during events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday. It appears this won’t be changing anytime soon, as Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa is pleased with its current strategy.

Speaking to investors during a recent financial briefing, Furukawa was asked about any plans Nintendo has for reducing the price of the standard Nintendo Switch, specifically because of the recent Nintendo Switch Lite launching at a lower price.

“We want to maintain the value of our products and sell them at their current price points for as long as possible, so we have no plans to reduce prices at this time,” Furukawa said in response. “Because profitability can fluctuate depending on quantities produced in the future, we’re not estimating any specific decrease in cost. We want to improve profitability by increasing the number of units sold and selling the Nintendo Switch family of hardware for as long as possible.”

Luigi's Mansion 3 Door — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The strategy seems to be working thus far, as the Nintendo Switch has far outsold its predecessor, the Wii U, and had its sales bolstered by the new Switch Lite, which launched in September. Games like Luigi’s Mansion 3 and this week’s Pokémon Sword and Shield also give interested players a reason to buy the console.

However, Nintendo will be facing competition in 2020 from the PlayStation 5 and Microsoft’s Xbox Scarlett. The Switch has been able to play many of the same games as the PS4 and Xbox One this generation, but it has already shown its limitations on titles such as Overwatch and Mortal Kombat 11. This gap in power will only grow larger as the new systems support 8K resolution and ray tracing.

Still, those consoles won’t have a sequel to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Metroid Prime 4, so Nintendo should still find it easy to convince people to buy the Switch — or whatever new consoles the company plans to release next.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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