Some fans may have been worried that the Nintendo Switch 2 was going to get even more expensive in the United States following the recent tariff announcements, and it sounds like one analyst was previously expecting a significant price hike, which certainly wouldn't go down well with the crowd already begging Nintendo to "drop the price."
Important context here is that Nintendo Switch consoles have been manufactured in Vietnam for some time now, with some production first starting in 2019 (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz), and Bloomberg reports that around a third of Switch 2s are assembled there. However, when US President Donald Trump announced new tariffs last week, Vietnam was heavily impacted, with massive 46% tariffs set to significantly increase the cost of imports from the country.
It's now been announced that a 90-day pause on tariffs is in place for many affected countries – Vietnam included – although even in countries like this, there's still a new 10% levy in place on most US imports. In a comment published by Bloomberg, Robin Zhu, an analyst at Bernstein, expects that if things stay at 10%, "Nintendo probably keeps pricing at $450 and just takes the hit on margin."
As far as customers are concerned, this definitely sounds like a better outcome than what Zhu was previously expecting to happen. "At 46% Vietnam tariffs, I expected them to raise by $50 to $100," Zhu notes.
Obviously, the situation is still evolving, so anything could happen yet. Taking a hit on the cost incurred by any tariffs is what former Nintendo marketing leads Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang are also anticipating Nintendo might do, with Yang previously suggesting that this "would repair some goodwill with their current fan base" following the backlash of the current $450 pricing. With that said, she also thinks the company is probably "seriously considering" a price increase, but hopes it'll ultimately settle on the decision that's bound to come across more favorably to customers.
Last week's Nintendo Switch 2 news gave us our first proper look at many upcoming Switch 2 games, but the Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date announced then has been pushed back in the US and Canada as a result of the tariffs.
