In brief: Are you concerned that the Nintendo Switch 2 simply isn't expensive enough? Probably not, but it's something that's worrying the company's investors. At a time when component prices are skyrocketing, a report claims the gaming giant is under pressure to increase the price of its handheld, which is being sold at a loss.
Bloomberg notes that apart from a brief uplift in March when Pokémon Pokopia launched, Nintendo's stock price has been on a downward trajectory this year. It started 2026 at $68.15 but is currently at $47.38, a fall of more than 30%.
The stock decline is a worrying sight for Nintendo shareholders, who are calling for the company to raise the Switch 2 price. The device launched in June 2025 with an MSRP of $449.99. There's also a region-locked Japan version that sells for the equivalent of $318. Both of these are said to be sold at a loss, especially the Japan-only model.
We don't know exactly how much Nintendo is losing on each Switch 2 it sells, but the amount is likely substantial. An analyst told Bloomberg that even if Nintendo raised the price by $50 to $100, the console would only become "less of a burden rather than truly profitable."
Many console makers sell their machines at a loss, relying on the likes of game sales, subscriptions, and accessories to make up the difference. After the disastrous Wii U, Nintendo decided to sell the original Switch for a profit, but changed course with the Switch 2 – even though it's $150 more expensive than its predecessor.
This isn't the first time we've heard of a potential Switch 2 price hike. It was reported in February that the company was considering increasing the cost as a result of higher component prices.
In an interview in November 2025, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa promised not to raise the Switch 2 price in 2026, though it came with caveats: the price would remain the same as long as the company did not have to deal with inflationary pressures from increased tariffs or component costs.
The dilemma for Nintendo is that the Switch 2 has hardly struggled to shift units since launch. The company said it had sold 17.37 million devices by the end of December, alongside 37.93 million Switch 2 games, while quarterly profit jumped 23% thanks to the new hardware. But strong demand won't mean much to investors if AI-fueled memory costs and tariff risks keep eating into margins.