Nintendo Switch Prices Won’t Increase ‘At This Stage’, Says Shuntaro Furukawa

Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa has confirmed that the company has no plans to increase the recommended retail prices of its Nintendo Switch consoles “at this time”.

In an interview with Nikkei (opens in a new tab)Furukawa spoke about what’s on the horizon for his fan-favorite handheld system and revealed that while Switch sales are down 23% from the same time last year – which he attributes to the industry’s continued shortage of semiconductors – the company is still thinking “of pricing based on the value of fun [it] offers”.

“Keeping prices low is no problem for us in parts supply,” Furukawa explained. “The problem is that demand exceeds supply.

“We are not considering [a price increase] at this point, for two reasons,” Furukawa added (thanks, NME (opens in a new tab)). “In order to provide unique entertainment to a wide range of customers, we want to avoid charging people. Our competition is the variety of entertainment in the world, and we always think about pricing according to the value of the pleasure that we offer.

“Our products also include software. Nintendo has sold over 100 million Switch units so far, and it’s important to maintain momentum in our overall business.”

Therefore, if the OLED model “will continue to be less profitable than [the] other models” and costs have “undoubtedly increased for shipping”, Nintendo is considering “what it can do” to offset these costs without passing on a price hike to consumers.

On August 3, Nintendo released its latest quarterly results and revealed that registrations for its Nintendo Switch Online subscription services were slowing down because people owned multiple Switch consoles (opens in a new tab).

Analyzing sales for the last fiscal quarter, Nintendo said “membership growth has become more subdued” in Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions as “more consumers have now purchased multiple consoles.”

The company goes on to explain that when you take into account the new subscription figures for the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack service, the overall number of Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions continues to increase.

The original Nintendo Switch Online subscription service offers members cloud saves, online play support, mobile compatibility features such as screenshot transfer, and library access NES/SNES games as well. However, The Expansion Pack also offers N64 and Mega Drive bonus games for its customers, as well as DLC for select games including Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Splatoon 2 and Animal Crossing: New Horizons (opens in a new tab).

If you’re having trouble choosing between Nintendo’s two services, head over to our should you buy the Nintendo Switch Online expansion pack (opens in a new tab) guide for a complete overview.