Consumers are willing to pay a premium for Nintendo hardware, potentially indicating at a higher price point for the upcoming Switch 2 console.
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Nintendo’s new Switch successor could be priced at a higher cost than the current Switch handheld-and-console family of systems. Data released by the Japanese company and compiled/analyzed by TweakTown suggests a clear trend: Consumers are more than willing to pay extra for upgraded hardware.
To get a better understanding of consumer habits, we took a look at historical Switch unit sales by model. The sales data, which is based on sell-in shipments, shows that retailers (and consumers who buy the hardware) are indeed confident in the higher-priced Switch OLED model.
5We were able to make a quick breakdown on model sales based on the information released by Nintendo from the Switch’s launch to the Q1’FY25 period (June 30, 2024).
The data underlines interesting developments in consumer habits. Based on the shipment data, which is based on retailer purchases informed on consumer behaviors and purchasing trends, the more expensive $349 Switch OLED model has managed to sell more units than the cheaper, more affordable Switch Lite in a much shorter amount of time.
The breakdown looks like this:
- Switch Base Model – 93.97 million unit sales, 66% of total Switch lifetime sales, 89 months on market
- Switch OLED – 25.58 million unit sales, 18% of total Switch lifetime sales, 34 months on market
- Switch Lite – 23.86 million unit sales, 17% of total Switch lifetime sales, 59 months on market
5Shipment data from Nintendo further highlights that the Switch OLED model is now the dominant seller among the three systems. This shows that retailers want to purchase more Switch OLED models, which further indicates that consumers are more interested in purchasing these models, as retailers base their stock on consumer demand and buying habits.
Based on the data, we could surmise that Nintendo could choose a higher MSRP for the Switch successor, depending of course on manufacturing and shipment costs.
Nintendo’s main goal with hardware is to sell each unit at a profit. The base Switch model that launched in 2017 was sold at a profit from day one, even at a $299 price point, driven by efficiencies in production contracts with NVIDIA (the Switch is powered by a lower-cost, and comparatively weaker, Tegra X1 mobile chip), other chip-makers, and worldwide shipping companies.
The Switch 2, however, is expected to be powered by a customized Tegra T239 chip that will enable more higher-end gaming experiences and performance, including 4K-ready gaming via DLSS-enabled technology.
5Nintendo’s new Switch successor is believed to be powered by an custom 8nm NVIDIA “Orin” Tegra processor.
Read Also: PS5 Pro, Switch 2 chips have been shipped out by Chinese supplier
While Nintendo has yet to announce the Switch 2, nor discuss any sort of pricing for the system, the data suggests that consumers are indeed willing to spend extra on more premium-priced hardware.
The Switch OLED offers no performance upgrades over the existing 2017 launch Switch nor the Switch Lite, however the screen itself is more robust with an OLED panel, offering much more dynamic visual quality over the LCD screens found in the launch version and the Lite version.
Analysts have predicted the next-gen Switch will be “relatively cheap” compared to other Gen 9 consoles like the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, and that the Switch 2 will cost less than $499 at launch.
It’s possible that Nintendo could pick a middle price point for the system–more expensive than the $349 Switch OLED, but less expensive than, say, rival systems.
Based on this, it’s possible that Nintendo could launch the Switch 2 at approximately $399 MSRP.