Nintendo published its latest investors call report and, during the Q&A session, the Switch 2 maker has outlined a bold, yet simple, plan to offset the rising costs of computer components and, hopefully, shield its new gaming console from possible price hiked.
The plan is, essentially, “make tons of Switch 2 and put them all out there.”
PC components — especially GPUs, SSDs and RAM chips — are on an astronomical rising price due to their importance on artificial intelligence. Turns out, your penchant for creating weird, tacky pictures of yourself with a prompt consumes a lot — a lot — of resources.
As such, the price for those same components for, say, building gaming platforms, is also rising: specialists heard by CNBC estimate that the cost may be 50% higher this quarter than that of last year’s, while NPR’s recent story on the topic states that demand outpaces supply by at least 10%, which will result in devices like smartphones and laptops getting pricier.
Micron, a major RAM chip manufacturer, has left the consumer market entirely last year, shifting its focus exclusively on AI — and this may soon become a problem for games: both Sony and Microsoft (PlayStation and Xbox) are struggling to see how they can keep current prices in this scenario (it should be pointed out, however, that the “struggle” from Microsoft is only for its gaming part, as the other units of the company are actually investing in AI — so, in essence, the company is its own problem).
Nintendo’s answer? Here it is, verbatim:
“In general, the profitability of hardware tends to improve with economies of scale, and we want to continue to reduce costs as much as possible through mass production of Nintendo Switch 2 hardware.”
That comes from “Big N’s” very own president, Shuntaro Furukawa, as an answer relayed to him about how the company would prioritize profitability versus expanding the user base while memory component prices are rising at a pace that “exceeds expectations.”
As to “how” Nintendo will do that, Furukawa was mildly evasive. However, he did state that Nintendo seeks to strengthen partnerships with current component providers and setting up new supply lines as well as provide smart inventory management.
That last part, by the way, is why Furukawa thinks Nintendo has managed to not increase Switch 2 prices — it still has a ton of chips to use on console production. That’s “so far”, at least.
Other highlights from Nintendo recent earnings call”Switch 2 sales on the up, but domestic market is performing better than global
In other, business-y news, Nintendo earnings call also provided with interesting tidbits — chief among them is the fact that Japan is pulling its weight when it comes to overall sales — yeah, they’re playing a lot of Mario stuff over there. Despite the Switch 2 performing above expectations, most of this success comes from Nintendo’s domestic market, as the global scale went a little under for the company’s taste.
Here are some other details from the report:
- Strong Financial Performance: Nintendo generated ¥1.9 trillion ($12.3 billion) in net sales and an operating profit of ¥300.4 billion ($1.9 billion) for the nine months ending December 31, 2025.
- Switch 2 Sales Momentum: Since its launch in June 2025, the Nintendo Switch 2 has shifted 17.37 million units, with 7 million of those sold in the final three months of 2024.
- Regional Performance Discrepancy: Hardware sales in Japan exceeded expectations, driven by holiday titles like Pokémon Legends: Z-A – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, while overseas markets performed slightly weaker than projected.
- The “Touchpoint” Strategy: Nintendo is releasing large-scale free updates for original Switch hits like Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Splatoon 3 to maintain engagement with its existing 100-million-plus user base and encourage a gradual transition to the new hardware.
- Expanding the Cinematic Universe: The company confirmed that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will debut this April, and a live-action Legend of Zelda film is currently in production for a 2027 release.
- Upcoming Software Slate: New titles in the pipeline include Mario Tennis Fever, Super Mario Bros. Wonder – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, and Yoshi and the Mysterious Book.
