Report: Massive post-tariff price hike on Switch 2 could be inbound

Update: After a shocking report made headlines yesterday suggesting an inbound price hike on Switch 2, the DFC Intelligence firm via Forbes is clarifying its statement further – there perhaps won’t be a price jump at retail after all:

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Apologies for the misunderstanding created on our part by not clarifying the reference to a 20% hardware price increase over the next two years applied to the hardware side in general and not just the Switch.

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In the case of the Switch 2, we believe much of the 20% increase was already baked into the $450 price. It is not likely Nintendo will raise the price, and if they do, we don’t expect it to be 20%. Also much of that increase is in the form of NOT discounting prices. So not necessarily a price increase but where we model a 20% price decrease in the next year or so we have the prices holding steady.

As we all know by now, Nintendo officially delayed the pre-order date here in the U.S. indefinitely, with not even a whisper of when it might be ready to start taking orders. Just this morning it also officially delayed the pre-order date in Canada less than 24 hours before they were scheduled to go live on April 9. The release date remains firm for June 5 as of right now, but why has Nintendo delayed the inevitable? Well, we know it’s because of Trump’s tariffs announcement, but if the release date is still intact, why wait to take pre-orders?

Switch 2 could see massive 20% price jump

We know Nintendo has already imported a massive number of Switch 2 consoles stateside – reports ahead of the Direct showcase suggested dataminers had already tracked roughly 350,000 units landing in North America, and that was via data from way back in January 2025. So if the consoles are already in the country, and the release date remains in place, why not begin the pre-order process?

The $449.99 price Nintendo announced right before Trump took center stage with sweeping levies scheduled to hit just about every country worldwide seems a likely candidate.

A report via Forbes from expert financial and market analysis firm DFC Intelligence can perhaps shed some light on the matter.

The firm initially predicted something close to a $500 starting price before Nintendo went public last week at $449.99, but it looks like the analysts might end up being more correct than it seemed after last week’s Nintendo Direct.

Nintendo did not show a graphic or even mention the price of the console, nor the pre-order date, in its Direct showcase video. Is this a sign that it perhaps already assumed there was going to be a price hike or that the pre-order date might slip? This also seems quite likely.

Hands-on: We got to play Nintendo Switch 2 for nearly six hours yesterday [Video]

DFC has issued a new report, post Trump tariffs and the pre-order delay, lowering its sales forecast on Switch 2 from the 17 million it had initially predicted to close to 15 million for 2025.

They also suggest we could very well be seeing something to the effect of a 20% price increase on Switch 2 over the next two years if Trump’s tariffs remain in place.

That would put the base model Switch 2 at something like $530 or $540 USD, and the Mario Kart bundle at closer to $600 USD.

Whoa.

Clearly it’s next to impossible to precisely predict the outcomes on global production and the actual sticker price on shelves here in the U.S. due to the tariff situation, but this does not sound like good news for gamers – DFC maintains that its prediction are still in flux and will be updated accordingly as time goes on here, here’s what it had to say about the matter:

The lower forecast are directly related to supply and pricing. With tariffs and uncertain pricing Nintendo may choose to scale back its manufacturing. If prices increase substantially due to tariffs, a significant portion of prospective buyers are likely to hold back on a purchase until prices come down. This situation is changing and will be closely monitored as DFC regularly updates its forecast throughout the year

But hold on a second here – that’s a 20% price hike over the next two years. So again I ask, what does this have to do with the price Nintendo already announced and halting pre-orders in their tracks if the console is still set for release on June 5, 2025?

I’m no trade expert, but if the consoles are already imported, does this suggest that Nintendo will be raising the price on the units at pre-order this year to compensate for the higher costs it will be subject to later on (getting the next batch of machines stateside)?

Or, perhaps worse yet (depending on how you look at it), does this mean it is going to hold back the number of Switch 2 allotments at retail, take less pre-orders at the price it already announced to save face, and then just raise the price later this year and into next?

It’s clear Switch 2 is going to be a hit, but it’s also impossible to think these pricing and potential availability issues won’t have a detrimental repercussion on the outcomes as well.

At this point, maybe the question we should all be asking ourselves is how much we are willing to pay for a Switch 2 in 2025…$540? $600 with one game?

Whoa.